Eye of the Storm
by sweetserendipityxo
Summary: They always seemed to find a way to be each other's rocks, even in her undead life. Story of quiet confessions, inevitable confrontations, and heartbreaking moments. Post S3. Not just DE. Diving into more characters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the show the Vampire Diaries. I only use them and their remarkable relationships as inspiration. Enjoy! :)

* * *

Elena lay in bed, staring at the same spot on her dull, white ceiling. The darkness that enveloped the room was interrupted by an overwhelming flash of light, followed by the crushing sound of thunder. Elena wasn't sure if Mystic Falls was experiencing one of their worst storms in years, or if her vampire senses just heightened the elements of the storm. It was 3:52 AM. Three weeks ago at this time, she was making the hardest decision of her life: whether to feed or not. After waking up in the hospital morgue, everything seemed to pass in an excruciatingly, slow-motion blur. Every tear she shed, every hug she received, every heart-felt discussion of pleading or understanding from her friends, seemed to weigh on her. Although there were a billion things going through her mind, including memories that she did not think existed, she came to a conclusion surprisingly fast. Or maybe it wasn't so surprising at all. She had to turn for Jeremy. It was that plain and simple. Yes, she never wanted this life, never wanted to be frozen in time with no chance of moving forward and creating a family. But her love and devotion for Jeremy pushed that to the back of her mind, and helped her drink the first drop of blood from one of Damon's crystal glasses. She was expecting it to taste awful, but found it to be better than her favorite spaghetti her dad used to make. This thought both pleased and terrified her. She didn't want to enjoy any part of feeding, but couldn't seem to help herself.

Since that fateful night, her days seemed to be stuck on repeat. It was a constant cycle of learning everything she could about her undead life: control, bloodlust, overwhelming emotions, and holding onto her humanity. Stefan and Damon, although their relationship had taken another devastating blow due to Stefan's choice to save Matt, had teamed up with Caroline to try and help Elena feel comfortable in her new body. Each had their own approach, but each remained understanding and patient. Although Elena was appreciative of their support, she couldn't help but feel frustrated and alone. No matter how hard anyone tried, they couldn't possibly understand the emotions that seemed to be swallowing Elena whole. Her grief and sorrow that were constantly held in a guarded part of her heart while she was alive, were now consuming her in her undead life. She also felt tremendous loss for all her loved ones that had left this world and for the life she would never have. Alaric's funeral seemed to bring all these emotions to a head. And although she remained strong and stoic for the ceremony, she was completely shattering on the inside.

Confusion was another emotion that controlled her thoughts. Confusion on who to be, which vampire path to take (human or forest creature), and which Salvatore brother to call hers forever. Although she had chosen Stefan in a pure vulnerable moment as a human, she wasn't quite sure if that choice was the best for her now less than human-self. She never made her choice known to Stefan, who seemed to not be focusing on that particular dilemma at the moment. He was more concerned with saving her humanity. Elena also never confronted Damon about memories of mysterious strangers in the middle of nowhere, and love declarations in her very own bedroom. She figured he was aware of the compulsion wearing off, but neither had dared to mention it. She would enter that dangerous territory when she figured out how she honestly felt about it, and when the time was right. Until then, the three of them danced around each other with quiet understanding: all focused on helping Elena come to terms with her new, limitless, never-ending, future.

So now she lay in her illuminated room, painfully awake. Elena wasn't very sure if vampires were even meant to sleep, but found that her emotions and thoughts made it an impossible task. As the rain continued to flood the Earth, she decided she needed a change of scenery. Deciding to pour herself a glass of wine with the hopes of calming her senses, she checked on a sleeping Jeremy, and descended the stairs. However, she stopped dead in her tracks when she reached the front door. Although she was a baby vampire, Damon had taught her how to sense others. And right now, she could sense him. It was difficult through all the rain, wind, and thunder, but she would be able to sense him anywhere. Debating with herself for a split second whether she should make her presence known or not, she decided she had nothing better to do, and pushed open the door.

Elena stepped out onto the porch and leaned casually against the doorframe, facing the vampire sitting on her porch swing. Damon, who seemed to be focusing on the rain, turned to face her with a knowing look. Of course he had heard her every step out of bed.

"Elena." Was his greeting for her, said in that way only he was capable of.

"Damon." She replied quietly. "I'm guessing it's your shift?" Damon and Stefan had been taking turns watching the house every night for the past three weeks. She assumed it was to make sure she didn't do anything rash, and it annoyed her that they assumed she wasn't aware of this plan.

His eyes widened, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I actually just love sitting on your porch swing every time there's a hurricane that descends upon Mystic Falls." If it wasn't for his trademark smirk, she would have considered believing him.

Elena gently smiled back. "Do you really think I'm that bad of a student?"

Damon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"You teach me to sense others, and then expect me not to notice when the two people I've memorized with every sense are lurking just outside my house?"

Damon let the fact that she just admitted to having him permanently engraved into her mind slide. "I wouldn't call it lurking…just casually lounging outside, recreationally."

She scoffed and let out a small laugh. Deciding to end the light banter, she became serious once again and stared at Damon with the most honest look. "You don't have to spend your nights here waiting for me to break. I'm not going to break, Damon." It was not lost on Elena that this echoed a previous conversation she had had many months ago with Damon while arguing about chili.

Damon looked at her with his intense, sapphire gaze. "That's not why I come here, Elena. I know you're not going to break. Just like I know you are stronger than most people think."

"Then why do you come?" Elena questioned.

"When I first turned, I remember the nights of the first couple months. I could never sleep with all the thoughts that seemed to be flying through my head." He paused for a moment and took a breath. "And all I remembering wanting, was someone to talk to. Not necessarily about all the things I was thinking, but just talking, about anything." His eyes clouded over with sadness. "But I never had anyone to talk to, and I remember how lonely and isolated I felt."

Elena just stared at with him with empathy. "I'm sorry, Damon."

Damon waved his hand, "No need to apologize, it was a long time ago. The point is, I don't want you to ever feel that lonely. So I sit here and wait for a time, like right now, when you just need someone to talk to."

Elena was constantly surprised by how Damon could know exactly what she needed, before she even realized it herself. She gave him a loving smile, walked over to the porch swing, and sat down beside him—far enough away to keep their carefully constructed space, but close enough for either of them to reach out and break through that wall.

They sat in comfortable silence, despite the worsening storm surrounding them. Elena couldn't help but compare this present moment to their lives. They were constantly surrounded by some sort of chaos and impending doom, but Damon and she had always found a way to be each other's rocks. When one of them started to feel the crushing weight of hopelessness, the other would grab hold and assure that they would get through it, that they'd always survive. She was brought out of her reverie by Damon's words,

"So, I'm curious. If you were aware of me sitting out here for the past twenty-one nights, why have you never just offered me a spot on the couch, safe from the elements?"

She looked to find him smiling at her, attempting to break through whatever serious thought he knew she was thinking. "I figured you were a big-boy-vampire who could handle a few cold nights and rainstorms." She continued the banter.

He heartily laughed, "Although that may be true, my favorite leather jacket would have to disagree."

Eyeing the jacket that had become so accustomed to her, the look, the smell, the feel, she realized it was looking a bit worn and weathered.

She moved closer so that her arm was resting against the soft leather. "Well, the jacket is always welcomed to a nice spot on my couch from now on." Although her smile was joking, her eyes revealed the deeper meaning of that statement. Damon of course caught this, and accepted the offer by placing his hand on her small one that was currently resting on his arm. Their eyes met, and seemed to say all the unspoken things that had been avoided since she transitioned. Not ready for that emotional hurricane, she broke the tension by shifting their focus back to the rain.

"You know, when I was younger, I would always come out here and sit on this swing during rainstorms." She looked to Damon, who encouraged her to continue with a slight nod.

"The rain always had a way of calming me. It was like no matter how frustrated or upset I was, I could come out here, close my eyes, and just let the steady rhythm of the rain consume me. It would remind me of how there are such bigger things in life, and would make me feel so….human." She trailed off, reminiscing about that feeling, wondering if it could work now, even in her undead state.

Damon, as always, seemed to read her mind and squeezed her hand. "Try it now." He whispered.

Elena did as he requested, closed her eyes, and let her senses focus on just the rain. It worked. But there was something different than all those times she spent sitting on this swing. Something else that comforted her—Damon's presence. He stared at her with all the admiration and love he felt, and for a second, he imagined her still as his human Elena.

Suddenly, Elena opened her eyes, as if another memory had just came to life in her mind. She turned to face Damon, noticing that their hands were still intertwined. He looked at her expectantly.

"Every time I sat here, I always came to the same conclusion. I wanted to run into the rain and just let it soak me. Something about the idea sounded so thrilling and alive." He smiled, hanging onto every word she spoke, relishing in her human memories.

"But right when I had entertained the idea enough to actually try it, my mom would always come out with a blanket and tea, and tell me to come in before I caught a cold." Although the memory was happy, she couldn't help the twinge of sadness that entered her voice.

Damon knew the look well, and held her hand tighter. "Sounds like you had an amazing mom."

She nodded and they settled into silence once more.

Just as Damon thought she had been consumed by sorrow and nostalgia, Elena abruptly released his hand and stood up. Before he could ask what she was doing she quickly said,

"I'm a vampire, right? Why not enjoy some of the perks of my eternal life?" She smiled down at Damon, who was feeling a bit whiplashed by her change in attitude, but had a slight idea of where her train of thought was going.

"Vampires can't catch a cold." He smirked.

"No, they certainly cannot." And with that, she used her new speed and was off the porch and in the midst of the storm before he could even blink.


	2. Chapter 2

Damon was all for the idea of Elena living out her human dreams and feeling truly alive again. Until he realized that there was way more than just rain currently engulfing Mystic Falls. There was also lightning, thunder, and heavy winds that were whipping objects through the air…objects that could stake Elena. And even though he encouraged her letting loose more than anyone, his concern for her trumped that. So he chased after the girl who was currently running up and down her street.

By the time he had stopped her by grabbing hold of her waist, they were both soaked to the bone. Of course neither of them could feel the chill of the wetness. She turned inward to face him, so that he was holding her completely against him. Damon looked down at her in awe and heard the sweetest sound—Elena's laughter. He was beginning to think that he would never hear that irreplaceable sound again with all the tragedy that had entered this precious girl's life. Elena looked upward at Damon's face, flicking from his eyes to his mouth. Although her laughter had ceased, her bright smile remained. They stood there in each other's embrace for what felt like hours.

A branch flying past them suddenly reminded Damon why he had chased after her in the first place.

He gazed intently down into her eyes, "You know we should probably get inside, before one of us gets unexpectedly skewered, and ruins the moment."

Although Elena knew he was probably right, she couldn't bring herself to end this night. Something about right now, in his embrace, told her it was time. She peeled herself out of his arms, but kept hold of his right hand.

"Come on, there's somewhere I want to show you first." She softly spoke. Confusion and curiosity filled Damon's eyes, and before he could protest, she was pulling them through the woods.

They ran for many miles, through rain that washed over them in waves. Damon had no idea where Elena was taking him, but was growing more curious by the second. Finally, she stopped in the middle of a road. She released his hand and walked a few steps away from him. Damon stood in the road, looking around. He couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed at their destination. Why would she bring him to a random road, in the middle of the night? But the more he observed their surroundings, he realized that this road was not random at all. Damon suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach. However, he remained quiet, curious to see how Elena was going to handle this.

As if on cue, she turned to face him. The severe weather had died down, and all that was left was a steady, light rain. Elena studied his expression, and then decided to throw caution to the wind, and just enter the dangerous territory.

"Do you know what this place is?" She quietly, yet firmly asked.

Damon debated whether to answer or not, and settled on, "You tell me." Not revealing anything in his tone.

Elena glanced at the ground. She had expected him to let her drive this conversation. She took a deep breath. "This is where you and I first met." She paused. "Four months BEFORE I met you at the Boarding House." She emphasized.

Damon looked away. Although he knew this conversation was inevitable after she had transitioned, he still had no idea what she expected him to say. She broke through his thoughts,

"Do you remember? You thought I was Katherine."

"Of course I remember, Elena." He replied without hesitation. "And I quickly realized that you were someone entirely different." Though it was a simple statement, it spoke volumes about Damon's opinion of Elena, even from their first meeting.

Elena wanted to smile at the compliment, but knew she needed to get through this first.

"You gave me some great advice, which was awfully nice of you to do for a complete stranger as a volatile vampire at the time. Why didn't you hurt me?"

Damon seemed taken aback by that. The very thought of hurting Elena in any way seemed foreign to him. But he understood she was referring to his humanity-lacking, pre-loving-Elena, self.

He shrugged. "I guess you took me by surprise. Not only with your appearance, but with your wit and charm." She raised an eyebrow, not completely accepting that answer.

Damon hurriedly clarified, "No one had asked me in years what I wanted. But you did. You only knew me for five minutes, and already showed that you cared about what was important to me. You intrigued me, Elena."

Elena took a moment to think about that. It made sense. Even after they met, Damon seemed to always be surprised by any interest or compassion she showed him, like when she apologized to him for losing Katherine too. But something else still didn't make sense to her.

She took a step closer. "I understand why you compelled me to forget the encounter…you didn't want anyone to know you were here. But why didn't you ever tell me? Even when we got closer?"

These were questions he expected. "What would it have changed Elena?" She paused to think of an answer, but was interrupted by Damon. "Nothing. It wouldn't have changed a thing. Either you wouldn't have believed me, or wouldn't have cared that much because in your mind, you met Stefan first."

"It could have mattered." She argued. "I even told you that the night I died." He flinched at the word, but she continued. "I told you that maybe if we had met first, that things could have been different. Little did I know how ironic that statement was."

It was his turn to take a step closer. "Elena, you said that because you feel something for me. The me that is standing in front of you right now, not the Damon that was standing in this very spot all that time ago. Even if you would've met me first, I don't think it would have changed much. I was a different person back then, with an agenda, and completely different priorities. I had to go through the whole Katherine situation and all the pain and betrayal that went along with it, to be the person I am now."

He was now standing directly in front of her. He reached up to cup her face.

"Maybe if the person I am now had met you first, then things would be different. But I wouldn't be who I am now without you in the first place."

Elena closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. She knew he was right. She knew she couldn't have fallen for the person he was when he first came back to town. It was everything that happened to them between then and now that made her care so deeply for the man currently touching her face. She reached up and placed her hands over his.

"I understand. Everything that has happened has led us to this point. And now there's one more place we need to go."

* * *

When they finally arrived back in her bedroom, she retrieved them two towels to try and dry the mess that was their hair. They were silent, both lost in their own thoughts. Elena was thinking about how to approach this next subject, considering it was a lot more meaningful than their first meeting. And Damon was anxiously awaiting the deep soul-searching they were about to embark on. In his opinion, this night had been filled with enough heart-to-hearts. Yet, he figured he kind of deserved the emotional backlash, since he was the one that compelled away such heartbreaking declarations in the first place. What he was most anxious about, was how Elena was going to react to it. She had surprised him by understanding his reasons for never revealing their first encounter to her rather easily. But how easily could she understand him compelling her to forget his declaration of love?

While Damon was standing near the bed, Elena moved to her window-seat. She sat down, and tried to position herself the way he had that night. Damon was watching her intently. His face held so many emotions at once. He looked anxious, guarded, and tired. Surprisingly, she remembered seeing all these emotions on his face that night. Although she knew they both needed sleep, she felt like this conversation had to be done.

Instead of asking questions, she decided it was best to just voice her opinion.

"You shouldn't have made me forget, Damon. That was a memory that I should have been able to keep and hold onto."

Damon chose to sit at the edge of her bed. "You weren't ready to hear those words, Elena."

"How do you know?" She quickly disputed.

He faced her. "Because just two months before that you told me I had lost you forever, which was understandable, considering I had killed your brother." They both grimaced at the painful memory. "You hated me."

"I never hated you, Damon." Elena instantly corrected him. "As much as I tried, my heart wouldn't let me. I've accepted that it's impossible to hate you, no matter what you do."

Damon sadly smiled, but decided to get back on track.

"Besides, you had just been kidnapped and found out that some thousand year old vampire was coming after you. You didn't need to worry about my feelings making you feel awkward and uncomfortable every time you were around me."

Elena thought about this for a moment. "I honestly don't think it would've made me feel awkward or uncomfortable, Damon."

"Then you would have felt bad and pitied me." The thought seemed to disgust him.

"No, Damon!" She was up from her seat and beside Damon in a flash. She placed a hand on his cheek and forced him to look at her. "I just have to say something and you just need to hear it." His eyes widened at the familiar words.

"Now that I remember that night, I can assure you I felt everything besides pity. I was so overwhelmed by what you were saying. Even though I knew you cared about me, which you showed by continuously saving me, I never thought you actually loved me. But, when you said it, it was like I couldn't imagine you not loving me. It was the most honest thing you had ever said to me. And as soon as I processed your love, you were already pulling it away, saying that you didn't deserve me and I had to forget. You never gave me a chance to respond."

Damon couldn't help but interrupt her speech with a vulnerable, "What would you have said?"

Elena took a second to honestly think about what her answer would've been, but realized she knew exactly how she would've responded.

"I would have told you that you were wrong. That you did deserve me. And your willingness to give me up because you believed your brother deserved me more, proves that you are more than deserving. It was the most selfless thing you have ever done." She told him with nothing but love in her eyes.

Noticing that Damon was currently speechless, she continued. "I understand why you felt the need to say it, and why you thought you were helping me by making me forget. But in that moment, you made me feel things that I had been denying. The thought of you loving me seemed to consume me and the pure admiration that was in your eyes made me feel more wanted than I had in so long. But then you made that feeling disappear faster than it had come."

"I saw it." Damon surprisingly spoke. Elena questioned him with her eyes. "I saw that feeling in your eyes. I wasn't expecting it, but I saw the possibility of love in your eyes, which made it even harder for me to make you forget. But I hoped that one day, if I stuck around long enough, that I would see that look again."

"And did you ever see it again?"

He smiled softly. "I think you know the answer to that. But yes, I've caught glimpses of it. They are what have kept me going through all the chaos."

It was her turn to smile at him. She rested her head on his shoulder. "You know, as much as I wish you wouldn't have made me forget, I think it's better that I remembered it now, after everything we have went through together since then. I'm in more of a place to understand the immensity of it."

Damon nodded and they let silence settle in once more. At some point they had shifted from sitting on the edge of her bed, to lying down beside each other. Her head rested on his chest, while his hand gently stroked her arm.

"I know it's been a long night of heartfelt discussions, but could I dare to ask, what now?"

Elena wished she knew. If the decision was solely based on tonight, then she wouldn't hesitate to lay in Damon's arms forever and let him claim her as his. But it wasn't that simple. Stefan was still very much in the picture. Her human-self chose Stefan for a reason. She told Damon it was because she never unfell for him, no matter what her feelings had become towards Damon. But was that entirely true? And even if it was, would it remain true in her undead life? One thing she knew was true was that she loved Damon. But she would wait to share that confession at another time.

She spoke into the darkness, but was aware of him hanging on to her every word.

"I wish I could tell you because you deserve to know. But I am so lost in my own head, Damon. I know that I have feelings for the both of you, and choosing between you two was impossible enough as a human. Now as a vampire, there are so many possibilities, such as eternity, and I'm more aware of every little thing that I feel for each of you." She paused, but Damon's silence urged her to continue. "I chose Stefan that night in a moment of vulnerability and based on what I felt I needed as the girl I was right then. I don't know if it was the right decision or not, especially now, but I feel like I owe it to my human-self to at least find out."

She nervously waited for Damon to respond. She half-expected him to just get up and leave in frustration. But she knew him better than that, and of course he stayed right where he was.

"I understand, Elena. You need to figure out if as a vampire, you still want and need the same things you did as a human. It's a complicated process that we all had to go through when we turned."

She loved how he could be so understanding. She looked up into his eyes.

"I completely understand if you don't want to wait any longer, I mean I know it must be frustrating to constantly deal with…." She was stopped by Damon placing his finger to her mouth. He propped himself up on his elbow so that he was staring down at her.

"I love you, Elena, and that is NEVER going to change. I decided to wait for you before you were even close to admitting that there was even the slightest possibility for us. Now that I know that you are actually willing to feel for me and entertain the idea of us, there is no way I am quitting on you now."

Elena smiled up at him with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Damon."

"And even if I didn't want to wait, I still wouldn't leave you. I recall making a certain promise to you that I would never do that. I keep my promises. Especially ones I make to a friend."

The tears that had welled up were now spilling over onto her pillow. Damon was right. Above all else, her and Damon were friends. And they always would be.

Damon bent down and placed a sweet kiss onto her forehead, mirroring the one he had given her that night. Only this time it was filled with hope and contentment, instead of sadness and regret.

He laid back down next to her and whispered, "Now I think it's time we get some rest."

Elena nodded into his chest. "Goodnight, Damon."

* * *

Should I continue? Please review! Any feedback is greatly appreciated :)


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for reading! I'm diving into more of the characters now and adding more plot. Enjoy!

* * *

The morning after, Elena awoke to an empty bed. She was instantly colder, missing the touch of Damon's familiar skin. While she wished she could've woken up in his arms, she had expected him to create distance by leaving. He had told her that he would wait for her. But she was under no illusions that they would experience a night like the previous one anytime soon. She had chosen Stefan for the time being. Which meant that Damon would give her space and the two of them would settle back into a life where all they shared were secret glances and fleeting moments of alone time. Elena wasn't fond of orbiting around Damon without being able to get close to him, especially when she was perfectly aware of how they could be so much more. But that couldn't be her focus. Right now she had to turn her emotions and thoughts towards Stefan, the man she had thought was the love of her life only a year ago.

For the next two weeks, Elena did just that, and Stefan was over the moon that she had given him another chance. But as always, the bliss wasn't without interruption. Since Damon had been doing everything humanly possible to stay out of the boarding house to avoid the newly reunited love birds, he had more time on his hands to focus on the impending vampire massacre that the council was planning. Or he assumed that they were planning. Everything had been too quiet for his liking since psycho-Alaric dropped "the Sheriff and mayor have vampire children who they have been protecting" bomb. Oh and let's not forget about the head doctor at Mystic Falls General Hospital who has been using vampire blood to heal patients. There had been no council meetings…at least none that he was aware of. And no one had made a move to try and find Caroline and Tyler, who had been hiding out in a hotel right outside Mystic Falls for the past month. Something wasn't right.

Damon's suspicions were confirmed on one of the many days he sat drinking at Mystic Grill. He was minding his own business at the bar, thinking about how pathetic his life had become once again, when he saw one of the more outspoken council members (Ted, maybe?) talking secretly with someone he had never seen before. The man was tall and fit with dark eyes filled with suspicion. His mouth was set in a thin line, making him seem like he was all business, no pleasure. Damon was about to get closer to vampire-stalk their serious conversation, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. He turned to see Meredith standing close to him.

She leaned in and whispered, "I'm assuming you see that man over there talking to my cousin, Ted?" Damon felt a slight amount of pride for actually paying attention enough during those boring meetings to remember names. "He's bad news. I think he might be the council's new vampire hunter."

Damon's brows furrowed at that. "Last time I checked you were a doctor who enjoyed cheating death, not Nancy Drew. So how'd you come to that conclusion?"

She took a seat next to him and ordered a beer. Damon was surprised at his apparently new drinking buddy, but wasn't completely opposed to filling Alaric's vacant spot.

Meredith took a swig from her fresh beer, then a deep breath. "As you may know, my cousin Ted isn't exactly the most secretive about his feelings towards vampires. At all our family gatherings, I remember him incorporating his hatred for them into any conversation. But I guess he couldn't really help it since we were all raised in a town known for despising vampires and plotting their deaths."

Damon gave her a bored look. "Although this family history is enlightening, to someone I'm sure, can you skip to the more relevant, vampire hunter part?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. The other day, I saw that man coming out of my office. When I confronted him, he just said he was lost, and none of my things were missing. I chalked it up to paranoia, until I saw the same man two days ago at one of my family gatherings as Ted's guest. I overheard them talking about 'eliminating the vampire problem' and adding something to the council's file."

"What kind of file?" For as long as Damon was a part of the council, there were never any files involved. Having their secrets written down was too risky; it must've been something new.

Meredith shook her head. "I couldn't hear everything they were saying. All I could make out was that the file was somewhere in the Lockwood's library."

"That doesn't make sense. Carol would have told me if they were collecting information for some new, vampire file." Wouldn't she? Tyler was her son after all. But maybe that's why no one had gone after Tyler yet.

Meredith came to the same conclusion. "Unless they're blackmailing her. They must have some sort of deal-her silence for Tyler's safety."

Damon remained silent, already thinking of a way to get to that file. Who knows what it could contain-a vampire hit-list? Plans to kill them all? He had to find it, and fast, before the mysterious vampire hunter could make any deadly moves.

He turned to Meredith and smirked. "Well done Nancy Drew, I'll take it from here." He was out the door before she could even ask what his plan was.

* * *

For once in Damon's life, one of Mystic Falls' pointless, annual events was convenient for him. The town was holding their Founder's Appreciation Banquet in one week. A member from each of the founding families would be recognized and asked to give a short speech, praising their less than perfect town. This wasn't the part that pleased Damon at all. He was more focused on the fact that it was being held at the town's oldest family home, the Lockwood Mansion. He was sure with everyone drinking and fooling themselves about how wonderful their town was, he could sneak away to the library and find the council's file. But he knew he needed help for the plan not to fail like all his other carefully made ones in the past. The only problem was he didn't know who to involve, since he firmly believed the town was filled with complete imbeciles, incapable of making the tough decisions that kept people (Elena) alive.

Eventually, Damon decided to swallow his current loathing for his brother and pitch the plan to Stefan. The conversation actually went well. They had agreed to sneak Tyler in to help them sift through his family's library. And Bonnie and Jeremy would serve as their eyes in the party. Everything seemed settled until Stefan dared to say,

"Elena can help Bonnie and Jeremy monitor the guests, just in case they need back-up."

Damon slowly turned around to face his brother, anger barely contained on his face.

"I never said anything about Elena coming to the banquet."

Stefan became confused. "You actually planned on leaving her out of all this?"

"Yeah, I did, Stefan. The council only needs one founding family member, that's where Jeremy fits into the plan."

Stefan took a step closer. "Damon, there is no way Elena is going to agree to stay on the sidelines."

Damon rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Stefan. I figured she would need some convincing, which I'm willing to handle if you can't step up to the plate."

"I'm not convincing her to stay home. Damon, she's a vampire now. She can handle herself."

Damon took three steps closer. "You don't need to remind me of the fact that Elena is now part of the undead club. You also don't need to tell me how strong she is, considering I was the one that helped train her, while you were off tearing people's heads off."

Stefan let the insult slide. "Then I guess I don't see what the problem is."

Damon looked at Stefan, dumbfounded. Was he really the only one who thought of all threats to Elena's well-being?

"Let me catch you up here, Stef. The council doesn't know that Elena is a vampire. We have been extremely careful keeping that hidden, which makes Elena safe. You know what doesn't keep her safe? Throwing her into a closed space with hundreds of options for dinner, and risking her exposing herself in front of everyone who would be more than willing to drive a stake through her heart."

Stefan shook his head. "Do you really believe she has such little self-control?"

"Are you hearing yourself right now? How long did it take you to be able to stand in a room with over a hundred beating hearts pulsing in your ears? And then if one of them gets hurt, which you know is a very likely possibility with this town's record of bloody social events, do you expect her to be able to be the perfect model of restraint? She is just like the rest of us, Stefan."

Stefan seemed to consider that and retorted, "Then I'll stay close to her."

Damon closed the space between them. "Just like you stayed close to her while she was drowning in a car?"

Hurt flashed across Stefan's face. "And there it is. How many times do I have to tell you that it was the biggest mistake of my life?"

"You can never say it enough, Brother. The only way that I would forgive you, is if somehow you could go back in time and save the girl you supposedly loved, instead of a high school jock. But that isn't gonna happen."

They stood there dangerously staring at each other for a long moment.

Stefan finally said, "It's Elena's choice."

Damon fought the urge to punch his brother in the face. "When are you going to realize that Elena doesn't always make the best decisions for her well-being?"

"And when are you going to realize you can't control her, Damon?"

"It's not about controlling her, Stefan! It's about keeping her safe!" Damon roared.

Stefan took a few steps away. "You know, I think this is really about the fact that Elena chose me. You are losing your hold over her, and now you are lashing out by keeping her out of the loop."

Damon didn't fight his urge any longer. He lost all restraint and threw himself at his brother. They crashed into one of the library's book shelves, sending wood flying all over the room. Damon held Stefan by his throat and hissed,

"I never had a hold over her, that's not how our relationship works."

Stefan shoved Damon off of him and into the desk.

"What relationship, Damon? You two haven't talked in weeks!"

Damon punched Stefan in the face.

"Because you and I agreed to give whoever she chose space. I'm starting to think I shouldn't have honored that deal." Damon said through clenched teeth.

They tore the library apart, taking turns throwing one another across the room. All the disappointment, hurt, anger, and betrayal came to a head. It was an overdue battle and neither one of them was willing to surrender. Until something sent both of them flying to either sides of the room. They both looked up from their spots on the floor, shock and confusion in their eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Elena bellowed.

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more DE next chapter! any critiques are welcome :)


	4. Chapter 4

Action-packed chapter, so enjoy! Thank you again to all who have reviewed, favorited, & followed!

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Elena glared at the both of them. She came to end the silence that had become her and Damon's relationship for the past two weeks. But when she stepped into the Boarding House, she was greeted by shouting, growls, and the sound of glass, wood, and probably bones breaking. Fearing the worst, she had vamped out and sped to the source of the fighting, only to find the Salvatores close to killing each other. Elena used her new strength to break them apart, shoving them to opposite sides of the room.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" She bellowed. She frowned at them as she took in their injuries. Stefan had bruising around his left eye and was bleeding from his lip. Damon's head was bleeding down the side of his face. However, Elena was sure there were more wounds she could not see. Damon painfully pulled himself to his feet first. He met Elena's eyes, but they were only filled with anger.

"Oh you know, Elena, just another day in the lives of the Salvatore brothers." And with that, he sped out of the room, to his drink cart in the parlor, if Elena had to take a guess.

She breathed out a sigh of frustration. She then turned to Stefan, who was now struggling to stand up straight. Elena went over to help him, and softly, but firmly demanded,

"What was that all about, Stefan?"

He tiredly looked at her, then moved to sit in the chair that had amazingly survived the epic battle. He explained what Damon had found out about the council's file, and Damon's plan to retrieve it, which didn't include her.

Not surprisingly, Elena replied, "I want to go to the banquet, Stefan. I can't hide out in my house while everyone else risks their lives." Stefan nodded. "But I understand where Damon is coming from. I don't know how well I will handle being around all those people, but I want to try."

"Damon isn't going to be very happy about that."

"Just let me talk to him alone, okay? It'll be fine." Elena whispered. She placed a brief kiss on Stefan's lips and left to find Damon.

Elena was surprised to find the parlor empty. She thought he would be nursing his wounds in front of the fireplace while sipping on a glass of bourbon. But there was no sign of him. While she headed to his room, she heard the front door close. She was grateful to Stefan for understanding her need to be completely alone with Damon. She figured he probably went out to hunt in the woods, which gave her some valuable time with Damon…if she could find him.

When she entered his room, her heart dropped to find him nowhere in sight. But as she ventured further, she discovered him standing shirtless in front of the bathroom mirror, attempting to wash the blood off of his face and chest. Elena abruptly stopped, too distracted by his body to form words. Ever since she had become a vampire, her attraction towards Damon had sky-rocketed, making it difficult to breathe while in the same room with him.

"It's not polite to stare." Damon's voice cut through her squealing, teenage girl thoughts.

She shook her head, attempting to clear it. "Sorry, I was just surprised by the amount of blood."

Damon turned his head to give her a knowing look, positive that wasn't the reason for her sudden loss of etiquette. But he didn't comment on it. "I know, ruined another nice shirt."

Elena noticed a smear of blood he had missed close to his hairline. She closed the distance between them and grabbed the cloth he had forgotten on the sink.

"You missed a spot." She softly remarked. His eyes burned into hers as she reached up and dabbed the blood. When her hand gently made contact with his skin, he briefly closed his eyes at her touch. A memory flashed through his mind of a night when he had tended to her wounds after almost being burned to death.

Elena let her hand rest on his cheek before relinquishing the contact.

"I understand why you don't want me at the banquet." She cautiously began.

Damon turned back to face the mirror, not wanting to fight with her.

"But I refuse to watch from the sidelines, Damon, especially now that I can be useful, and not be the damsel in distress."

He softly chuckled. "With the way you attract trouble, I have a feeling you'll always become a damsel in distress, whether you mean to or not."

"Even though that may be true, I need to be part of this, Damon. You guys might actually need me."

He wearily sighed and faced Elena once more. "I don't want you to think that I don't believe you're strong enough. I just don't want you to underestimate the power of bloodlust. Even if you don't want to hurt someone, the instinct for blood could take over if the temptation is overwhelming."

She nodded. "I get what you're saying, but I need to learn sometime, right?"

Damon walked passed her to find a shirt to wear.

"I just wish you didn't want to learn at an event attended by the entire anti-vampire council."

Elena followed him and kept some distance between them while he buttoned his shirt.

"It's not like I'll be alone. I'll have you and Stefan, and Bonnie and Jeremy to keep me in check. And if it turns out to be too much for me to handle, then I'll leave."

Damon seemed to have a battle with his thoughts, but he finally settled on a grimace.

"Promise?"

Elena sighed with relief and crossed the room to stand directly in front of him.

"I promise, Damon"

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry you had to see mine and Stefan's fight."

She grabbed his hand before it fell back to his side. "I just wish you two wouldn't break again. You were finally back to being brothers, you shouldn't let what happened to me destroy that." Elena pleaded.

Damon pulled his hand out of her grasp. "One request at a time, Elena." He sadly said.

She glanced at the ground, she had pushed too far, and ruined the moment. Damon needed time, but Elena refused to give up on mending the Salvatore's broken brotherhood. She would try again when they weren't planning on entering the house of the enemy to steal their secrets.

Elena caught Damon's blue eyes with her brown ones. She gently smiled. "Everything will be fine."

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Elena really wished she hadn't told Damon everything would be fine. When was anything ever fine? Up until this moment, she had actually believed that they would pull this plan off without a hitch. Everything had gone according to plan. They had all arrived to a dazzling, elegant banquet at the Lockwood Mansion. Elena remained on Stefan's arm, with Damon always nearby. And although every room was packed and her senses picked up on every noise and smell, she was pleasantly surprised to find remaining in control rather simple.

The speeches had begun a half an hour ago, and while Stefan stood at the podium discussing the town's immense impact on his upbringing, Damon had wordlessly taken Elena's arm in his. She smiled graciously at him. This was the only moment they had to themselves since they had arrived. The moment was fleeting though. Jeremy's speech was next, which was Damon and Stefan's cue to head to the library upstairs and meet Tyler, who had climbed through his bedroom window undetected. It was now Elena's turn to remain on high alert. She surveyed the room, looking for anyone suspicious or trying to ascend the stairs. It was while she was scanning the doorway that she saw the first glitch in their plans. The blur of blonde hair instantly prompted Elena to change her position.

When Elena reached the vacant hallway, she saw Caroline standing in the shadows. She grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a corner.

She hurriedly whispered, "Caroline, what are you doing here? It's way too dangerous for you to even show your face in town."

Caroline had her usual smile in place. "Relax, 'Lena. No one has seen me. But did you really think I would let Tyler come back here alone?"

Elena looked at her with confusion. "He was supposed to tell you he was going out for a drink with Matt."

"Oh, he did. But I have been able to tell when that boy is lying since we were in third grade. He seemed uneasy anyways, so I followed him."

"What do you mean uneasy?" Elena grew even more worried.

"I don't know, like he was unsure of himself. It was probably just 'cause he hates lying to me."

Elena didn't know what to think about that piece of information, but she knew Caroline had to leave, now.

"Look, Caroline, why don't you go back and wait at my house until we're done with everything? I'll bring Tyler and we'll tell you anything you want to know." She added a desperate "Please?" to make Caroline understand how serious this was.

"Ugh, fine. But you better all be ready to answer why no one fills me in on anything anymore."

Elena smiled, relieved. She made her way back to the main room, but waited in the doorway to make sure Caroline got out the back okay. She spared a glance at Jeremy, to find him still gushing about the town's attractions. When she looked back down the hallway, she was horrified to find Caroline being dragged out the back door by two figures.

This was the moment Elena knew everything wouldn't be fine. She didn't have much time to debate what to do. She tried to find Bonnie in the crowd, but there was no sign of her. Glitch number three. There was no time to go upstairs to alert the boys, and they had to focus on finding the file for all their sakes. Caroline was in trouble now, and Elena was her only hope.

Elena sped out the back doors to see three figures standing near the lake on the edge of the Lockwood property. From what she could tell, Caroline wasn't struggling. Which meant one of two things: she had been vervained, or staked. Elena prayed for the first option. As she approached carefully, remaining hidden behind the trees, she recognized the two men as Ted Fell and the mysterious stranger Damon believed to be a vampire hunter. Caroline lay on the ground, thankfully just weakened by a vervain dart. Elena was close enough now to hear the men's hushed conversation.

"What should we do with her? We can't just kill her right here." Ted Fell frantically stated.

"That's exactly what we need to do. She needs to be made an example for all her vampire friends here." The man's cold, heartless voice sent shivers up Elena's spine.

Ted's eyes widened. "Well you're the vampire hunter. You deal with her while I alert the other council members."

The man stopped Ted from moving towards the house. "You and your council members brought me here to not only kill the vampires, but to teach you people how to deal with them. Lucky for you, you're going to be my first student." Ted shook with fear as the man pulled a stake from inside his jacket. He began pointing to Caroline's body, directly above her heart.

Elena had to stop this now. Maybe she could provide a distraction long enough for Damon and Stefan to come to their rescue. After all, they wouldn't dare kill Caroline in front of a witness.

"I don't want to do this Connor!" Ted yelled. Elena waited to see if he could change Connor's mind. But then Connor was shoving the stake into Ted's hand and violently grasping his shoulder.

"You will do this. For your town, for your family, for your friends. You will be a man and you will kill this disgusting creature. And not because you're scared of me, but because you want to. So I'm going to take a little stroll, and when I get back, I hope to see that you did what was expected of you." And with that, Connor headed back to the mansion. Ted was left with a stake in his hand, hovering above Caroline's body. He slightly pulled back, and Elena believed for a second that he wasn't going to go through with it. But then Ted started menacingly repeating,

"I have to do this. For the sake of this town. You need to die. You need to die." He drew the stake above his head with both arms and began to bring it down towards Caroline's heart. That was when Elena saw red and let instinct take over.

She lunged for Ted and sank her teeth into the soft flesh of his neck. He cried out in pain and dropped the stake. Something in Elena told her to stop, that she had done what she set out to accomplish, and that Ted was no longer a threat. But her adrenaline seemed to be on overdrive and the taste of fear in Ted's blood kept her from removing her teeth. She drank his blood while he continued to thrash in her hold on him. He had to die, he was going to kill her best friend, and he was a threat to them all.

"ELENA!" She heard a man scream. Not just any man. Somewhere in her frenzy and haze she recognized that voice. Damon.

She dropped the now dead Ted Fell onto the cold forest ground. When she looked up to observe her surroundings, she was stunned to see Damon and Stefan both staring at her. When had they arrived?

Stefan's face was one of shock and horror. Damon also seemed shocked, but held concern and empathy in his eyes. Elena reached up to touch the warm liquid that was running down her chin. Her hand came back ruby red. She looked down at Ted Fell's corpse, as if she was just realizing what had happened.

"Oh, God." She choked out before falling to her knees. The damn broke and her tears came uncontrollably, wracking her whole body. In the background, she faintly heard Caroline call Stefan's name, which meant the arms currently wrapping her in a strong embrace belonged to Damon.

His voice in her ear tried to reach through her hysteria. "Shhh, Elena. Elena! We need to get you out of here. Please, you need to come with me."

She made no move to go with him. Damon shot a look at Stefan who was checking on Caroline's current state. Stefan nodded and simply said, "Go."

That was all Damon needed and he scooped the bloodied Elena up into his arms, like he had done countless times before, and sped out of sight.

Little did they all know, that Connor had witnessed the whole thing.

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More reviews, good or bad, will help me update sooner. If I dont receive any more, I'm not sure I will continue.

PS. I got the idea of a vampire hunter named Connor from a recent spoiler that said there will be a new character named Connor in the show for Season 4.


	5. Chapter 5

This one is a bit shorter, but I wanted to give you all something before my trip. Thanks for reading!

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Damon ran straight towards the Boarding House. He ended up in his bathroom, setting Elena carefully down on the edge of the sink. She had not stopped crying and shaking the entire way back. Her heightened emotions were controlling her and making it impossible for Damon to even attempt to get through to her. He gently grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

"Elena? Elena, hey, can you hear me?" He intently searched her eyes for any sign of recognition, but all he found was pain, regret, and misery.

"Elena, please. I need you to talk to me, or at least let me know that you're listening." Damon pleaded.

She only bent her head downwards and mumbled through sobs, "I'm…I'm a…..a monster." The last word made Damon cringe. He whole-heartedly disagreed with her, but knew it was pointless trying to reason with her in her current emotional state. But he knew he had to do something, anything. The more she spiraled into misery, the closer she was to the switch that would make it all vanish in an instant. And that thought completely terrified Damon. Imagining an emotionless, uncaring Elena shook Damon to his very core. He had to keep that from happening. He frantically looked around the room, praying for an idea to come to him. His eyes then landed on the shower, and his prayers were answered.

Damon sped over to his shower and turned the water on cold. He then went back over to Elena and cupped her face with his soft hands.

"Elena? Can you stand?" The only answer he received was more tears. Oh well, that wasn't a problem. He scooped her up into his arms once more, walked into the shower, and set Elena down against the glass. The shock of the cold water temporarily brought Elena out of her hysteria, and she looked at Damon with confusion. Damon knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in his and holding them close to his chest.

"Elena, I want you to close your eyes and focus on the rhythm of water." She tilted her head to the side, questioning where Damon was going this. But she did as he said, still shaking uncontrollably.

"Good. Now I want you to imagine the rhythm of the shower as the steady rhythm of rain. You are sitting on your porch swing, listening to a rainstorm. Let the sound calm you." It was a longshot, but by the way Elena had described the rain to him two weeks ago, he thought imagining it just might be powerful enough to bring her back to him.

Damon sat in front of her while he watched her breathing finally slow to a normal rate. He noticed the water that was surrounding them was tinted a dark red. The blood that had stained Elena's face, neck, and beautiful dress, slowly rinsed away. He stared at the dress. It was lace and colored sapphire blue, almost the same hue of his eyes. He remembered Elena commenting on how much she adored the dress earlier that evening. Now it was ruined, just like many other things had been that night. He shook his head and turned his attention back to Elena's face. The wrinkles in her forehead and around her eyes that were caused from crying were slowing disappearing. He also noticed her shaking had stopped for the most part. He breathed a sigh of relief, his plan had worked. Until Elena whispered, her voice hoarse,

"No amount of rain could make me feel human again. I'm still a monster." Her eyes had lost the light Damon adored so much.

He scooted closer to her, still tightly holding onto her hands. "You are anything but a monster, Elena."

"I killed someone, Damon." She quickly interrupted.

"With good reason! He was about to kill your best friend. You saved Caroline."

"I didn't have to kill him." Elena's voice cracked. "But I couldn't stop myself."

"Elena, remember all those times Stefan and I told you that when you become a vampire, your most inherent personality traits become amplified a thousand fold?" She nodded. "Your compassion and fierce protectiveness of your loved ones are what became heightened. You would've done almost anything when you were a human to keep your friends and family alive. Now that you're a vampire, you can do absolutely everything to make sure they stay safe, your instincts take over."

Elena seemed to consider that for a moment. It explained why she saw red when Ted brought the stake down towards Caroline's heart. But it didn't explain why she kept drinking after he had dropped the stake.

"Damon, he surrendered. I should've stopped right when he dropped his weapon. But the taste of his blood and the…thrill of his fear consumed me." Her face became one of disgust. How could she have actually enjoyed killing a person?

Damon searched for a way to ease her guilt, but knew he had to be brutally honest with her.

"It was inevitable, Elena. Every vampire kills at least one person. But most first kills are out of pure bloodlust, and the victims are usually innocent bystanders. Look at Caroline for example. Her first kill was an innocent guy who was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time. But yours meant something, Elena. You didn't kill out of a selfish need for blood. You did it out of your selfless need to save others. And that right there proves you are not a monster." He emphasized the last five words.

She sat there for a long while, looking into Damon's striking gaze. Although she wanted to believe that she was a terrible monster, Damon always had a way of making her see the best in her. But then she remembered the look on Stefan's face. The pure shock and horror immediately brought Elena back to a dark place.

"I wasn't supposed to kill anyone." She softly remarked.

Damon gently smiled. "I hate to break it to you, Elena, but you are just like the rest of us. You're not up on some pedestal as a perfect model of restraint. You are allowed to make mistakes."

Elena finally let a ghost of a smile form. That was the difference between Stefan and Damon. Stefan had always held her above everyone else, always making excuses for her mistakes and flaws. But Damon was never like that. Although he claimed that he didn't deserve her, he was never afraid to call her out when he disagreed with one of her choices, or when she was being unfair. He treated her as a normal teenage girl, and was always honest with her, no matter how much she didn't want to hear the truth.

She squeezed Damon's hands. "I guess you owe me one huge 'I told you so.'"

He shook his head. "Nah, my ego doesn't need it." They both chuckled. "But you were right. You said that we might need you, and we did. If you weren't there, Vampire Barbie would probably no longer be with us."

Elena nodded in agreement. "But I still found a way to become the damsel in distress." She frowned.

Damon released one of her hands and touched her cheek. "I don't mind coming to your rescue."

The intensity in his voice took Elena by surprise. All of the times he had been her dark knight suddenly flashed across her mind. He was always there for her, which was one of the reasons why she had grown to love him. They stared at each other for a long moment and nothing else seemed to exist-not the cold water crashing over them, or her overwhelming guilt. She then drew herself into a kneeling position in front of Damon, her gaze never leaving his.

Her raspy voice whispered lovingly, "I don't mind you rescuing me." And then her lips met his.

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some DE love 3 review! :)


	6. Chapter 6

I'm back! Thanks for all the reviews! Enjoy!

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The kiss felt so familiar, yet so different. It held all the sweetness that was in their first kiss on Elena's porch, and all the raw passion that consumed their kiss at the hotel in Denver. But something about this kiss felt so…real. Elena seemed to be more aware of everything that was Damon, the taste of his soft lips, the touch of his hands tangled in her hair, and his firm chest that she was currently holding onto. The love she felt for him seemed to be exploding out of her, and when they kissed she couldn't help but notice how perfectly they fit together.

But then he was pulling away, and her world suddenly seemed to be missing an important piece. She opened her eyes to find Damon sitting across from her, far enough away so she couldn't reach out to pull him back to her. Her emotions were in a whirlwind, rejection being the most prominent.

"What are you doing, Elena?" Damon's soft whisper brought her eyes to his.

She quietly replied, "I think it's pretty obvious what I was doing." The happiness that had filled Elena's heart seconds ago was now slowly disappearing.

"We can't do this. I know it's customary for the rescued woman to kiss her knight and shining armor out of gratitude, but we both know it means more to me than that." Damon sadly remarked.

Her rejection was replaced with relief. He just didn't understand her intentions. That was easy to fix. But before she could attempt to clear his confusion, he was standing up, turning off the water, and saying,

"I'll find you some warm clothes to change into." And she was left alone on the stone floor.

When she finally made her way out of the shower and into his bedroom, she noticed a pair of gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt folded on his bed, but no sign of Damon. He was always taking care of her, even after he believed she was playing with his emotions. She shook her head, sometimes she wondered if she even deserved him. Elena peeled off her blood-stained dress and sadly stared at it. It had been one of her favorite gowns. It was simple, yet elegant, and was the same shade of Damon's eyes. Looking at the blood covering the lace brought Elena's mind back to the tragic events from earlier. The guilt slowly crept back into her heart, and she threw the dress across the room.

Elena changed into the clothes on the bed, and was instantly comforted by Damon's scent that was lingering on them. She needed to talk to him. After all the chaos that had happened, there was one thing that became clear in her mind, and she was desperate to make Damon understand.

Damon was outside on the balcony, relishing in the fresh air. He couldn't believe they had kissed again. He also couldn't believe he had stopped it. He wanted her more than anything in the world, but she wasn't his. He refused to be the man on the side, while Stefan had the privilege of claiming her as his own to the rest of the world. Damon had to have more control around her, no matter how difficult she made that. The subject of his thoughts suddenly appeared beside him, leaning on the stone ledge. He glanced at her, surprised to find her eyes intently staring at him.

"It wasn't out of gratitude, Damon. I mean I am grateful, but that wasn't why I did it." She firmly stated. Damon took a few steps away from her.

"Elena, you have been through a lot tonight, it's understandable that your emotions are everywhere. But when the sun comes up, you'll be back by Stefan's side." His eyes were full of sorrow and loss.

"I actually planned on being by yours." The pure honesty in her voice made Damon turn around.

He shook his head, growing frustrated. "I don't understand, Elena. You said you were giving Stefan a chance."

"And I did." She interrupted. She took a few steps forward. "The past two weeks I have done everything I could to try and make things the way they were with him." A frown formed on her face. "But that's the problem, Damon. When I'm with him, I feel like we're both trying so hard to go back to where we were, and be the teenagers that were in love a year ago. But I'm not that person anymore. And neither is he."

"You told me you never unfell for him, Elena." Damon argued.

"And there is truth to that. Damon, he will always have a place in my heart, but we can't keep trying to recreate the past in order to make the present work." Elena paused, remembering Stefan's face from earlier. "Tonight, when you two found me, all Stefan's face held was horror and disappointment. He still sees me as his human Elena, and I'm not sure he can love me as a vampire, without expectations." It was true. Elena just hadn't been ready to admit it.

Damon looked at her with sympathy and took a few steps towards her.

"Then he's an idiot and you deserve better." He said sincerely.

She smiled at him. "I have found better."

Damon's brows furrowed and he scoffed. "I'm hardly better, Elena. I mean sure I don't hold you to expectations, but there's ten more flaws to replace that." He looked at the ground. "Elena, just because you're realizing Stefan isn't the one, doesn't mean I am."

Elena quickly approached him, placed a finger under his chin, and tilted his head up. "But you are. And I think a part of me has always known that. Hell, you even knew it the moment we met."

Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

"You told me that I wanted a love that consumed me, with passion, adventure, and a little danger. Who would've thought you were describing us." She smirked, but then turned serious once more. "I have experienced all those things with you over the past two years. I've disliked you, befriended you, trusted you, depended on you, and have been so angry with you. You drive me crazy."

"Not exactly the most stable relationship." Damon negatively added.

She took his hand in hers. "But it's real, which is what we've always wanted. We've seen each other at our worsts and have still found a way to always come back to one another. When I saw Stefan as a Ripper, I was willing to let him go. But after everything you've done, I never could imagine letting you out of my life."

Damon stared at her for a while, his mind listening to her words, but his heart not willing to understand them. "What are you saying, Elena?

She took a deep breath. "I love you, Damon Salvatore."

Damon froze. He had never felt so human in his life. His heart was in his throat, his mind was reeling, and his hands began to sweat. It had been over a century since someone had spoken those words to him, and meant them. Now, the one person on the entire Earth who he loved more than life itself was saying she loved him. It felt surreal, too good to be true. It couldn't be true.

He was backing away from her. "Elena, you need to think about what you just said. I'll give you one chance to take it back."

Tears were forming in her eyes. "I don't want to take it back, Damon. I've never been so sure about anything in my life. I know it's crazy, but somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you, and I can't deny it anymore."

Damon still couldn't fully accept her confession. If she woke up the next day and realized she had spoken out of heightened emotions, he wasn't sure he would survive. He cupped her face with his hands like he had done many times in the past.

"If you mean it, there is no coming back from this. I won't ever let you go."

She placed her hands over his. "You told me once that we were right, just not right now. Well, I realized that Stefan was my right now, but you are my always." A tear slipped out of her eye.

That was all Damon needed to hear. He couldn't hold his love back any longer, so much for control. A smile broke out onto his face as he fiercely said, "I love you, Elena Gilbert." Then he picked her up and kissed her.

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There were so many things I wanted them to say. I hope I got it right. Back to reality next chapter. Review! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for all the reviews and sticking with my story! :) enjoy!

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They ended up in Damon's bedroom. They were lying on the bed, kissing. Everything about the moment felt so right. Suddenly, Damon's hand found his way under her shirt. She wanted to make love to him more than anything, but something was stopping her. She pulled back and he became confused.

"I want this, Damon." She smiled at him reassuringly. "But I want this when I'm completely yours."

Damon knew exactly what she was talking about. "You want to talk to Stefan first."

Elena nodded.

"I understand and completely agree, Elena." He flipped her over so that he was on top of her. "But let's have that happen sooner rather than later. I can't wait to call you mine." And with that he kissed her cheek and began tickling her. Elena screeched in response but couldn't stop giggling. Yes, this moment was perfect.

When the sun rose that morning, Elena and Damon were tangled in the sheets, fast asleep in each other's embrace. They had spent the night just basking in each other's presence. Damon awoke first and was slightly confused by the woman lying in his arms. He had dreamt of waking up to her too many times in the past that it took him a second to understand this was his new reality. He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. Damon watched her peacefully sleep, memorizing her every feature.

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't the first time you've watched me sleep?" Elena jokingly asked with her eyes still closed.

He smirked. If only she knew how many times he'd stayed awake to admire her sleeping.

"You know, you're getting too good at the whole vampire sensing thing."

She opened her eyes and rolled on top of him. "I can't help it. I had too good of a teacher." And she lent down to place a sweet kiss on his lips.

"I don't know how long it's gonna take for me to get used to this." He wondered aloud.

Elena looked at him seriously. "Well get used to it, because the rest of your eternity will be filled with morning snuggling."

Damon made a gross face. "Snuggling is so not a word in my vocabulary Miss Gilbert."

Elena pouted and hit him with a pillow. He heartily laughed and scooped her up in his arms. "I'm only kidding. I suppose I can make an exception for you. Only if we balance snuggling with more…active ways of loving." He winked.

"I'll think about it." She giggled.

Their bliss was interrupted by a door slamming. They both jumped a little and faced each other.

"Stefan." Elena whispered.

She was out of bed and making herself look presentable in the mirror before Damon could protest. He rolled his eyes. Time to get back to reality.

Elena was heading for the door, but Damon grabbed her waist and placed a hand under her chin.

"This is real, right?" The vulnerability in his voice made Elena weak at the knees. She hated that he was still questioning her love, but really couldn't blame him due to his track record of broken hopes.

She put her hands around his and kissed them.

"Everything that I said was real, Damon. Believe me. I'm going to tell him." He instantly relaxed and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, Elena."

They found Stefan in the parlor, pacing back and forth. When Elena came into view, he rushed to her and enveloped her in his arms. She was hesitant to give into the embrace, but old habits die hard. Damon cringed at the scene and decided a drink was needed. He made his way to the drink cart while Stefan searched Elena's face.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Stefan." She reassured him.

"Are you sure? I'm sorry it took me so long to get back, but Caroline was pretty freaked out and after what happened with Tyler…"

Elena stopped him. "What happened with Tyler?" She turned to Damon.

Stefan's gaze also traveled to Damon's. "You didn't tell her?" He suspiciously asked.

Damon glared at his brother. "I kind of had more important things to worry about, Stefan."

"Well someone fill me in now, please." Elena broke the tension between the brothers.

"Tyler disappeared last night, before we could find the file." Stefan sighed.

"Disappeared? I thought you two met him in the library?" Elena asked.

"We did. And we started searching for the file, but when we asked for any secret hiding spots he might know of, the little unreliable hybrid vanished." Damon sneered.

Elena didn't understand why he would do that, but then remembered her brief conversation with Caroline.

"Caroline told me that he was acting uneasy before the party…she thought it was just because he didn't like lying to her."

Stefan nodded. "She told me the same thing last night, but it had to be more than that."

"All I know is when I find him; he's going to have a nice conversation with my fist." Damon hissed.

Elena glanced at Damon, while Stefan argued, "You can't just beat up Tyler, Damon."

"Why the hell not? He had one job, and failed. And because he failed, we didn't find the file. Which in case you forgot, was the whole point of last night's little mission, Stef."

Stefan took a few steps towards Damon. "I haven't forgotten, Damon. But when we find him, Caroline will do the talking. She's the only one he's comfortable with."

"Good luck with that. In the meantime, I'll worry about the fact that we're right back at square one with no file and a no-name vampire hunter."

"His name is Connor." Elena softly said.

Green eyes and blue eyes shifted their attention to her.

"When I found them with Caroline, he was saying how the council had hired him to get rid of the vampire problem by teaching them how to kill. That was when he forced Ted to…" Elena trailed off and turned to stare out the bay window. Damon put his drink down and started to make his way over to comfort her, but Stefan felt the need to beat him to it.

"It's okay, Elena. We'll figure out what to do with him. But how about I take you home?"

Elena nodded. "Okay."

Her gaze found Damon's and she gave him a reassuring nod. "I love you." She mouthed and followed Stefan out the door.

The car ride was silent. Elena was too lost in her own thoughts on how to break the news to Stefan, and he seemed to be too scared to say anything, unsure of her emotional state. When he pulled into her driveway, she knew it was now or never. Stefan started to open his car door, but she grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I need to talk to you." She began quietly.

He eyed her curiously. "Okay, do you want to talk inside?"

She shook her head. "I'd rather do it here…Jeremy is inside."

He slowly closed the car door and faced her.

She took a deep breath. "Stefan, I really don't know how to say this, but…"

"I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to say, Elena." He sadly sighed.

"Please just let me say it anyway." She pleaded. He nodded in reply.

She took hold of his hand. "We met, we talked, and it was epic. But then the sun came up and reality set in."

His eyes darted to hers, surprised by the familiar words.

"I said that to you when we were first getting to know each other. And I'm so glad that you ended up kissing me that night and changing my mind."

He cautiously smiled, not knowing where she was going with this anymore.

"I didn't know how true that statement would be for us until recently. Stefan, we met, and we fell in love, and we were epic. But then reality did set in. The reality of you losing your way, blinded by bloodlust or revenge. And the reality of me having to become someone stronger and more independent. And by the time you found your way back to me, I was a vampire…"

"With feelings for someone else." He interrupted.

"It's not even about him, Stefan. It's not a competition. This is about us. You and me. We wrote a chapter in our lives together, and I wouldn't take any of it back. I am so thankful for you and our time together. But we can't keep rereading the same chapter, Stefan. At some point we have to realize that we aren't the same people that met outside the men's bathroom, and we need to let go in order to start a new chapter."

Stefan looked away from her, trying to come up with the right words to say.

"Remember when I told you I had lost you the moment I left town? It wasn't just because I saw the way you looked at Damon differently. When I came back, I saw that you had changed. But I guess I was just holding onto some hope that we could change together."

Tears were forming in her eyes. "I never wanted to hurt you, Stefan. I fought so hard for us, but I can't keep fighting for the past. A part of me will always love you, but I need to start focusing on rebuilding my present."

Stefan nodded. "I understand. But are you sure Damon fits in your present and future?"

Elena sighed. "I love him, Stefan. And I know it won't be easy. When is anything ever easy with me and Damon? But I don't think I want easy. We disagree and we fight. He challenges me and surprises me. But at the end of the day, he just loves me, the good and the bad. We fight for each other, and I can't imagine a life without him in it."

Although it was hard for him to hear, Stefan couldn't deny Damon's love for Elena. When he saw his brother change from the monster that first came to town into the devoted man he was now, he knew that his love for Elena was very much real and powerful. And so was hers for him.

"Our love might have been epic, but the love you share with Damon is true."

A tear fell from Elena's eye. "Thank you, Stefan."

He leant over and kissed her on the cheek. "I will always love you, Elena."

"This isn't goodbye, Stefan." She whispered through her tears.

"I know. We'll write a new chapter. As friends." Elena responded with a smile. She placed one last kiss on his cheek, and got out of his car.

When she entered her house, she leaned against the closed front door and let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. A weight seemed to be lifted from her heart and mind. She had finally made her choice, and she couldn't wait to start her new chapter.

* * *

Okay, so it was kind of difficult to write the conversation between Stefan and Elena. Although I am in love with DE, I felt that I needed to do the SE relationship justice, since it is such an important part of the show. Please let me know what you thought of it in the reviews!


	8. Chapter 8

I appreciate each and every one of your reviews & follows! Enjoy!

* * *

"Elena!" Jeremy came running down the stairs. He had his arms wrapped around Elena before she could even blink.

"I was so worried about you." He whispered into her hair.

She smiled into his shoulder. The love the two of them shared always made her feel better.

"I'm okay, Jer." She gently remarked.

He released her from the embrace, but kept his hands on her shoulders, searching her face. He didn't entirely believe she was okay.

"Are you sure? Everything happened so fast, and by the time I got out to the lake, you and Damon had already left."

Elena shifted uneasily beneath his hands. "So you saw what had happened?"

Sympathy flooded his eyes. "I did, but I completely understand why you did it. You saved Caroline's life, 'Lena."

She nodded. "I know that, but it's still hard to accept."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jeremy softly offered.

Elena briefly considered it, but decided she didn't want her mind to drift back there, not right now.

"No, I'm okay for now. I talked about it a lot last night with Damon. But thanks, Jer." She smiled.

He looked at her suspiciously. "So, you stayed with Damon last night?"

Elena shot him the "please don't go there look." Jeremy raised his hands in defense.

"Hey, it was just a question. Plus I noticed you didn't invite Stefan inside."

She smacked his arm. "You were spying!" She half-scolded.

"No! I heard a car in the driveway, so I checked it out! It was just in observation."

Elena rolled her eyes, but couldn't stay mad at her brother.

"Let's just say I finally made my choice and leave it at that."

Jeremy connected the dots and slowly smiled. "As long as he doesn't try to beat me up anymore, I'm fine with it."

Elena chuckled. "No guarantees. But if he does, he'll have to deal with an angry me."

"I'd be scared of that." Jeremy laughed.

It felt surprisingly good to have a sibling talk about boys with Jeremy. Although most sisters would dread having overprotective brothers, she preferred these conversations over the usual doom and gloom ones that filled their lives. But as she thought more about the news of her choice, there was one person she felt deserved to know.

"I'm going to shower real fast and then head out for a bit. Is that okay?" She asked Jeremy.

"Sure, where are you headed?"

She paused. "There's just someone I need to talk to."

* * *

The long row of gravestones still had a way of overwhelming Elena. She didn't think she would ever get used to the immense amount of loss their family had suffered. She laid a white daisy in front of each stone, briefly closing her eyes at each one. When she came to the last and most recent one, she knelt down in the freshly cut grass.

"Hey, I'm sorry this is my first time visiting since your funeral. Things have just been really hectic, especially without you." She swallowed. Alaric had become such a significant person in her life. But she didn't realize how much she and Jeremy had come to depend on him, until he was gone.

She brushed a stray tear off her cheek with the back of her hand.

"I came to tell you news that I think you would've wanted to know." She paused. "I finally made a choice." She imagined him responding with a sarcastic "finally."

"I know, took long enough, right?" She smirked. "I chose Damon."

"I don't think you'd be too shocked by that. But I don't know how happy you would be about it."

Although Damon was Alaric's close friend, he never really enjoyed the idea of the two of them together.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt me. He loves me, and I love him." Alaric might not have been exactly pleased by her choice, but she was certain he would've supported her.

"He misses you, you know. We haven't talked about it much, but I can tell there are times he just really needs his best friend. Even though we both know he'd never admit that to either of us." Damon wasn't exactly the best at sharing his emotions, but she knew him better than anyone.

"I miss you too." She sadly whispered.

"So do I." Elena whirled around to find Meredith standing behind her. She had been too distracted to even here Meredith approach.

"I'm sorry for intruding. I can go." Meredith quickly said.

Elena shook her head. "No, it's fine. He would be glad to see you."

Meredith smiled. "Sometimes I still walk into Mystic Grill and expect to see him sitting at the bar."

Elena stood beside her and nodded. "I expect the same thing when I walk into my house."

"How are you and Jeremy doing?" Meredith asked, concerned.

Elena took a deep breath. "We're dealing." It was the most honest answer Elena could give.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, both wishing for Alaric's presence. Elena glanced over at Meredith and noticed her all black attire.

"Meredith, did you come here just to visit Alaric?" She questioned.

"No, today was my cousin's funeral. But I wanted to stop by here before heading to the brunch. I've just been so busy with work at the hospital and everything."

Elena froze. Her cousin's funeral, as in the cousin she killed. How could she have forgotten Ted Fell was Meredith's cousin?

"You okay, Elena? You look a little pale." Meredith interrupted Elena's thoughts.

Elena tried to compose herself. "I'm fine." She lied. "I'm so sorry for your loss." Her voice cracked.

Meredith eyed her suspiciously. "Thank you. I have to get going, but are you sure you're alright?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah, it's just been a long day."

"Okay, well take care. It was great seeing you."

If only she knew that Elena was the cause of her cousin's untimely death. Elena watched as Meredith walked through the maze of gravestones to her car. Once she had driven away, Elena fell to the ground. Ted Fell had a family. A family who was now painfully mourning the loss of a loved one. A family who was experiencing the same grief that Elena knew all too well. She would never wish that emotional pain on anyone, but she had caused it anyway. She grasped the grass between her fingers. The guilt was overwhelming. She murdered someone. It didn't matter if it was out of defense; she still had taken a life. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will away the crushing weight of regret. Elena became lost in her own mind, too many emotions vying for power. It was then she felt the strangest sensation, a calming darkness just inches away. She was about to venture towards it, but was brought back by familiar hands taking hold of her face. When she opened her eyes, she was met by intense, panic-filled, blue eyes. As Elena began to focus on his concerned face, she then noticed his voice.

"Elena. Hey, Elena. Can you hear me?" Damon pleaded.

"Damon." Elena croaked.

"Yeah, it's me. What happened?" His thumbs were stroking her wet cheeks.

Elena shook her head. "Meredith was here. Ted Fell's funeral. He had a family, Damon." Her thoughts came out in short, rushed phrases.

Damon sighed. He recognized the guilt in her eyes.

"It's okay, Elena. We talked about this last night. You saved Caroline." He tried to soothe her.

"I know. But the guilt won't go away, Damon."

He stroked her hair. "It will in time. You just need to believe that your actions were justified."

Elena grew quiet. "I felt it, Damon." She whispered.

He furrowed his brows. "Felt what?" His voice low.

"The switch."

Damon's stomach dropped. He drew back so that he was staring into Elena's eyes once more.

"Elena, listen to me." His voice was deadly serious. "No matter how much better it would seem to have everything turn off, it's not. Trust me. Turning it off might be easy. But finding your way back is one of the hardest things."

"I don't want to turn it off, Damon." She said through fresh tears. "I never want to not know what it feels like to love you. But it draws me in, Damon. And I don't know if I'm strong enough to stay grounded."

"I will keep you grounded." Damon promised fiercely. He then kissed her passionately. Elena immediately gave into his touch, and all the despair that consumed her moments ago vanished. He then slightly pulled back, keeping his forehead against hers.

"What do you feel right now?" He softly asked.

"Love, hope, safety, and passion." She responded truthfully.

"Good. Now I want you to remember all of those feelings anytime you feel like turning off the switch."

She nodded.

"Don't ever leave me, Elena." He firmly stated, although she could sense his desperate vulnerability.

"Never. Promise to never turn off your switch either."

"I won't as long as I have you." He kissed her forehead.

They sat in silence for a long moment in front of Alaric's grave.

"I told you not to worry." Elena spoke to the gravestone, breaking the silence.

Damon smirked. "So he knows about us, huh?"

Elena enthusiastically nodded.

"I can almost hear his threatening speech in my head." They both laughed.

"Want to head back to the boarding house for some afternoon snuggling? Elena winked.

Damon rolled his eyes. "I thought that was a morning thing."

"It's an anytime thing. But I promise I'll follow it up with more of this." She reached up and kissed him tenderly.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" He picked her up and sped them to his car.

* * *

While driving down the road, Damon cleared his throat. "So Stefan came back to the Boarding House today and moodily locked himself in his room." He looked over at Elena. "I'm guessing that has something to do with you?"

Elena looked out the window. "I told him it was over. But it didn't go that badly. We decided to be friends."

"Hmm. I wonder if that friendship offer will extend to me as well." He paused. "I doubt it."

She glanced at him. "You two will find your way back to each other. I'll make sure of it."

Damon turned his attention back to the road. "Might be a long time, Elena"

She placed a hand on his thigh. "Well a long time is nothing compared to eternity, which is conveniently what we have."

He gave a small smile. This woman could convince him to do anything.

"Is he still there?" Elena questioned. Although they had ended on a relatively good note, she didn't want to push the limits by shoving her and Damon's relationship in Stefan's face.

"No, he went out to kill Bambi and Thumper. We have a few hours to ourselves."

"For once." Elena chuckled.

When they pulled into the driveway, Damon sped to Elena's side of the car and opened her door.

"Such a southern gentleman." She smiled up at him and took his awaiting hand.

He shrugged. "Only for people I actually like."

They walked up the sidewalk. "I hope you don't just like me." She mocked hurt.

He stopped her on the patio. "You're right. I kind of, sort of am in love with you." And kissed her nose.

She giggled. "Well I kind of, sort of love you too."

"When did we become so cheesy?" He laughed.

Damon opened the door for Elena. They were still completely focused on each other. When they stepped into the foyer, two piercing shots rang out, sending both Damon and Elena to the ground.

"Gotcha." Connor evilly grinned.

* * *

And the drama of the story begins... I know this chapter was a little random, but I felt it was necessary. I'm also trying to stay in character as much as possible. Let me know what you think in the reviews! Each review inspires me to write more :)


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for reading! Here we go...

* * *

Damon lay on the floor writhing in pain. He had taken a bullet to his chest, dangerously close to his heart. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Elena laying a couple feet away from him. Blood was pouring out of her right shoulder, but she seemed to be conscious. He wanted nothing more than to crawl over to her and ease her pain, but decided it was best to locate their current threat. He turned his head to search the rest of the foyer. His vision was a bit blurry, although he had no idea why. But he was finally able to see a figure lurking in the shadows by the parlor.

"Why don't you come out where I can see you, instead of hiding like a little coward?" Damon was able to say, before a round of coughing took over.

A deep, menacing laugh erupted. "Oh, I'm not hiding. I'm simply observing the effects of my new weapon."

Damon scoffed. "Wooden bullets are hardly creative, in fact, they're ancient."

"You would know." He took a few steps towards them. "But you see, these are vervain-laced, wooden bullets. And if one shoots them at the right spots, their effect will spread through the bloodstream instantly, affecting your vision and strength."

"Clever." Damon sarcastically replied.

Well that explained his current vision problem. This was just great. He stole a glance at Elena once again, who was trying to focus on the man's face.

"Connor." She groaned.

"Ten points for the lady!" He made his way over to her. Too close for Damon's comfort. "You know, you caught me by surprise. I mean no one had expected Elena Gilbert to be a vampire. A supporter, maybe, but never a bloodsucker. Can't say the same for your boyfriend over there."

"Is that what your pathetic file says?" Damon grunted, trying to shift Connor's attention off of Elena.

It worked. Connor let out another laugh and walked closer to Damon.

"There is no file you fool."

Damon's face became instantly confused.

"I figured if I went around town publically talking to a council member about some new, vampire file, one of you would hear about it eventually. Apparently you're not as clever as you are strong."

Damon mentally kicked himself. He should've figured it out.

"So it was all a trap? The banquet and everything?" Elena quietly questioned.

"Indeed it was. The file was the bait. But the plan didn't exactly work out the way I thought it would."

"Welcome to my world." Damon hissed under his breath.

"You see I thought I'd catch one of you in the library. But then Caroline Forbes was stupid enough to show up, and I decided to use her and Ted as the bait instead."

Elena sat up, clutching her shoulder. "You knew one of us would attack Ted. You sacrificed him." Her voice held disgust.

"Oh don't be so dramatic. If he was as strong as he should be, he should've been able to take you."

"But you knew he wasn't. None of them are." Elena raised her voice.

He crossed the space between Damon and Elena quickly.

"Don't you dare try to make me the bad guy here. I was doing my job. You are the one who murdered the poor son of a bitch in cold blood." He spat out in her face.

Damon was on his knees now. "Get away from her." He intensely threatened. "If you were such a big-bad vampire hunter, you should've been the one staking Caroline, not Ted. Elena was defending her friend, while you were cowardly hiding behind a tree."

"I don't think I asked for your opinion." Connor yelled. "And quite frankly, you're beginning to annoy me." He whirled around and shot Damon in the head. Elena screamed at the sound, and whimpered as Damon hit the floor with a sickening thud.

Despite the pain in her shoulder, she struggled to her feet to try and take Connor down. But he was too fast for her sluggish-vervain filled body, and turned just in time to shoot her in the arm. She fell back to the ground.

"I wouldn't try anything stupid like that, Elena."

She glowered up at him. "Why bother dragging this out? If your job is to eliminate us, then why don't you just get to it?"

"'Cause this is so much more entertaining." He smirked. "Besides, I need information."

Elena shook her head. "You aren't going to get anything from me. Especially not after shooting Damon in the head. So you might as well just kill me." She hissed.

He eyed her curiously. "That's something I don't get. How is it possible for heartless monsters to love each other?"

"We aren't monsters. We were all human once, and our humanity never leaves us." She tried to make him understand.

"Humans who chose to be monsters." He clarified.

"No! There is so much you don't understand. Most of us don't choose this life. It just happens and we're forced into it because we either don't want to die or don't want to leave our loved ones."

Connor seemed to contemplate that, and Elena actually thought she might've gotten through to him.

But then he glared at her. "That's very touching and all, but you still prey on people."

"Most of us don't." She defended. "We feed on animals or blood bags."

He gave a look of disgust. "Then what was Ted Fell?"

Elena sighed. "A victim. Sometimes we can't control ourselves if we're driven by fear or anger."

"Monsters." Connor spat out. Then he went to his bag and retrieved a stake.

Elena immediately became alarmed. "What are you doing?"

"Well since your boyfriend doesn't look like he's going to do much talking, I figured I'd just get rid of him." He went to Damon's side.

"NO!" Elena bellowed. "Please, please, you don't have to kill him." She begged.

"Actually I do."

"What about all the times he has saved this town? He has been part of the council for a reason—to protect the town. If it wasn't for him, this town would've fallen into the hands of actually evil vampires a long time ago."

He glanced at Elena. "Did you ever think that maybe those vampires were only in this town because of you? You're like magnets for danger and destruction."

Elena tried to get to her feet. "We do more good than harm. I can guarantee you that."

"All a matter of perspective." He then turned to drive the stake in Damon's heart.

Damon couldn't die. Not after they had just found their way to each other. She used all of her strength and threw herself at Connor. They fell to the side, the stake rolling away from them. Elena tried to fight him, but she was severely weakened by the two bullets seeping vervain into her system. He recovered quickly and threw her into the table in the foyer. Glass went flying everywhere. Connor then grabbed her by the throat.

"You just couldn't wait your turn." He hissed. "How many of you are there?"

Elena spat in his face. "Go to hell." And she pushed him off of her. She made her way towards Damon, but was stopped in her tracks by a bullet to her leg. She cried out in pain.

"That's a place reserved for you." Connor towered over her with the gun pointed at her head.

Elena took one last look at Damon, still unconscious only a few feet away from her. If only she could tell him she loved him one last time. She then closed her eyes, awaiting the darkness soon to come.

But it never did. Instead of a gunshot, she heard gurgling sounds. She opened her eyes to find a wrist being shoved into Connor's mouth. Then hands came to either sound of his head, and swiftly flipped his neck into an unnatural angle with a deafening crack. When Connor's limp body fell to the ground, Elena was shocked to see Tyler standing over him. He had an uncharacteristic smirk on his face.

Elena let out a breath. "Tyler? What did you just do?"

"I turned him into his own worst nightmare. He judged too much." Tyler simply responded.

Something wasn't right. Tyler's whole demeanor seemed too…relaxed. And his eyes held a new darkness to them.

"Tyler, where have you been? None of us have seen you since the banquet when you bailed on us." Elena cautiously questioned.

He tilted his head at her. "Oh, that. I had other things to do, places to be. Plus Damon and Stefan seemed to have it under control."

"We needed your help, Tyler. Caroline almost died."

Tyler seemed to stiffen at the mention of Caroline. "Well, she didn't. You apparently had that covered." He took a step closer to her and glared. "You are a vampire now after all."

His steely eyes made Elena extremely uncomfortable. "Tyler, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I just saved your life. Maybe you should be more appreciative." He snapped.

Elena was taken aback, not knowing how to react to Tyler's unusual behavior.

"Thank you." She quietly said.

He placed a smile back on his face. "You're welcome. Now I have to get going, I'm assuming Damon can handle this unfortunate fellow from here. See you around, Sweetheart." And he was out the door.

Shivers traveled up Elena's spine. She was frozen in place. There was only one person who had ever referred to her as "sweetheart." But there was no way it was possible, right? He had died, unless…

Elena shook her head. The pain in her arm and leg brought her mind back to her injuries. She sorely pulled the bullets from her flesh, and then hurried to Damon's side. The sight of him tugged at Elena's heart. He looked so…dead. She slowly removed the bullets from his body, careful not to hit his heart. However, he remained unconscious, and she placed a soft kiss to the wound on his forehead.

Then the front door opened. Stefan stood in the doorway, momentarily stunned from the scene before him. But he recovered quickly.

"Elena!" He rushed to her side, beside Damon. He stroked her bloodied arm.

"What the hell happened?" He eyed the very dead Connor laying steps away from them.

Elena quickly explained the events, and Tyler's bizarre behavior.

"I wonder what's gotten into him." Stefan pondered aloud. Elena kept her current suspicion to herself.

"Is he going to be okay?" Elena shifted the focus to Damon.

Stefan worriedly looked over him. "He should be fine. Just needs a lot of blood to counteract the vervain."

Elena nodded. "Okay, I'll go get some from the basement." But Stefan's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Elena, you were shot three times. You need a decent amount of blood too. I'll get it." He gently smiled.

She returned the smile, grateful for his presence. Elena sat by Damon's side, holding tightly onto his hand. She willed him to open his eyes, but knew it would take longer than the time she had. She needed to figure out if her theory about Tyler was right. And there was only one person who could confirm it.

Stefan came back with an abundance of blood bags. Elena drank three rather quickly, while Stefan forced the liquid down Damon's throat. While she was drinking, her eyes landed on Connor's motionless body.

"What are we going to do with him?" Elena asked Stefan.

He sighed. "I guess it depends on how he reacts when he wakes up."

"Damon will probably want to frame him; make the council think he was a vampire trying to manipulate them." Elena concluded.

"You're right. It's kind of scary how well you know him now." Stefan lightly added.

She turned to him. "Doesn't mean I agree with him. But it would be the smartest choice."

He nodded. "We'll decide when Damon wakes up."

"Hey, I know this might be awkward, but do you still have some clothes of mine here? I really don't want to be stuck in these bloodied ones."

Thankfully Stefan gave her a small smile. "Of course, they're in the bottom drawer."

"Thank you." She gratefully whispered and disappeared upstairs.

Ten minutes later she reemerged, wearing a fresh pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She also was carrying an envelope in her hand.

"How is he?" Stefan had moved Damon to the couch in the parlor.

"Still out. But his color is coming back."

Elena sighed with relief. "Good." She took a seat next to Damon and wrapped his hand in hers.

"You can wake up anytime now, Damon." When he didn't move, she squeezed his hand. "I'll be back soon. I love you." And placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked, slightly alarmed.

She stood. "I just need to figure something out." When Stefan's face grew even more concerned, she continued. "I'll be fine, I promise. But can you please give this to Damon when he wakes up?" She handed the envelope to Stefan.

"Elena...you aren't doing anything risky, right? This isn't some goodbye letter?"

"No, it's not. I promise. It just explains some stuff. I will be back before you know it." She reassured Stefan.

With one last glance at Damon, she turned and headed out the door.

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I hope that all made sense! What'd you think? Let me know & please review! :)


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you to those who reviewed! Not that many last chapter...did you guys not enjoy the action? let me know! here's a busy chapter...

* * *

Elena walked up the sidewalk rather slowly. This was her second guess on where the person she needed to talk to would be; they hadn't been at their own home. While driving, Elena had noticed the lasting effects of the vervain, making her feel a bit weaker. But she couldn't think about that now. She had to focus on discovering the truth, no matter how painful it might be. With a heavy heart, Elena raised her hand and knocked on the front door. As the seconds went by with no answer, Elena grew frantic. But then she heard the door unlock, and it slowly opened.

Elena took a deep breath. "Bonnie." She tried offering her a small smile.

Bonnie seemed hesitant. "Elena? How did you know I was at my Grams?"

"I didn't. I went to your house first, but no one was home. This was more of a hunch."

Bonnie slightly nodded, but her eyes seemed guarded. "Well, what are you doing here this late?"

Elena knew this wouldn't be easy. Ever since she had transitioned, Bonnie seemed to distance herself from Elena.

"I need to talk to you, Bonnie. It's really important. Please?"

Bonnie thought about it for a moment, but could never deny her best friend.

"Sure, come on in." She attempted to smile.

Elena was relieved she did not have to ask Bonnie to invite her in. She found it frustrating to have to be invited into homes she had no problem entering since she was three.

Elena followed Bonnie into the living room, noticing an array of opened spell books dispersed around the room. She settled into a seat on the couch, while Bonnie chose a chair further away.

"So what's going on?" Bonnie questioned.

Elena nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"We have been friends since we were able to walk, Bonnie. I know a lot has happened over the past year that has strained our relationship, but I still see you as a sister." Elena began.

Bonnie seemed to relax a little. "Of course, Elena, you're still important to me too."

Elena smiled. "Good. Now I know what I'm about to ask you might sound crazy, but I need you to answer me honestly."

Bonnie hesitantly nodded. "Okay." She whispered.

"Did you find a way to put Klaus in Tyler's body?"

Bonnie froze. She seemed to be too stunned to answer.

Elena took that as confirmation, but needed to hear her say it. "Bonnie?"

"Yes." She quietly answered.

"Why, Bonnie?" Elena couldn't wrap her mind around it.

"Because you were all going to die, Elena! I had no choice. If I hadn't preserved Klaus, I would've lost my mom, and virtually all my friends." Bonnie defended.

Elena sighed. "I understand that you wanted to save everyone. But why did you never tell any of us?"

"I was tired of everyone controlling me. I was sure you would all have your opinions on the matter, and I decided it was time for me to make my own choice. So I did what I had to do." She concluded.

"But now what, Bonnie? He can't stay in Tyler forever! I mean, think about Caroline!" Elena's mind was going a mile a minute. And then she realized something. "Wait. If Klaus is in Tyler, then that would mean Tyler was in Klaus…but Damon said Klaus' body burned…so…does that mean Tyler is…"

"He isn't dead." Bonnie quickly assured. "At least I don't think he is. Yes, Tyler was in Klaus' body when Alaric staked him, but I had placed a spell on his body, preserving it."

"Then where is it?"

"It needs to be conjured back with a spell. And now Klaus is pressuring me to do it, but I don't think I'm strong enough." Bonnie dejectedly admitted.

Elena's heart filled with sympathy. Her friend had been dealing with the most evil person she knew for weeks now, and she had no idea. Elena crossed the space between them and knelt in front of Bonnie, taking her hand.

"You're not alone in this, Bon. We'll find a way to make it right."

Bonnie let a few tears escape her eyes before hugging Elena.

"I'm sorry, 'Lena. I've been so distant and I've screwed everything up again."

"Shhh. It's okay. You saved our lives, we should all be grateful."

They stayed in each other's embrace for a while, until the shrill of Bonnie's phone ringing made them both jump. She looked at the caller ID.

"It's him." Her voice was full of fear.

Elena squeezed her hand. "Answer it." And gave an encouraging nod.

"Hello?"

"Bonnie! Please tell me you've found a way to get me out of this hybrid body?" His voice was cold.

"Not yet, I told you I don't have enough power." Bonnie quietly said.

"Well, that's too bad, because your time is up. I want you to meet me at your ancestor's old witch house in the woods. You know, the decaying one? And when you get there, you better have found a way to bring my body back, or I will be more than happy to use my werewolf teeth to bite that mother of yours. You have an hour." And the phone clicked.

Bonnie let out a small cry. "I don't know what to do, there's no way to get enough power."

"Do you think your ancestors will help you?" Elena hopefully suggested.

She shook her head. "They hate Klaus. There's no way they would help me bring his body back."

Elena tried to think of any option. "Is there any way you can draw power from an object or a person?"

Bonnie's eyes filled with hope. She abruptly got out of her chair and ran over to one of the opened spell books. "That's it! There's a spell in here that allows me to fuse my power with the essence of another supernatural being."

Elena stood. "That's great, you can use me." She offered.

Bonnie continued reading, and her shoulders slumped. "Any supernatural being except for vampires. You know sometimes I hate how much witches despised vampires."

Elena shook her head. "Bonnie, I might be a vampire now, but I'm a still a doppelganger."

"Of course!" She paused. "Elena, the spell isn't supposed to harm the being, but I'm not sure what it'll do since you're still a vampire. And we will be linked. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Elena thought about it, but realized she needed to go through with it. She needed to help, for Caroline and Tyler's sakes.

"I'm sure."

* * *

Stefan leaned against the mantel, staring into the fireplace. He regretted letting Elena leave the moment she was out the door. But she had promised not to do anything risky, right? Who was he kidding? She always found a way into risky situations. Groans brought Stefan out of his reverie.

"Elena?" Damon's delirious voice called. "Elena?"

Stefan hurried to his side. "Damon. Damon, hey, it's Stefan."

Damon slowly opened his eyes, confusion filling them. "Stefan?" Confusion was soon replaced by panic. "Elena. Where's Elena?" His memory of the day's events came flooding back. He tried sitting up, but groaned at the pain.

"Easy, there. She's fine. Connor's dead. For now." Stefan kept a hand on his shoulder.

Damon furrowed his brows. "What does that mean?"

"Tyler came before Connor could kill Elena. He fed him his blood and snapped his neck."

"Huh, that's an interesting twist." Damon replied. He then scanned the room.

"Stefan, where is Elena?" He firmly demanded.

Stefan released Damon's shoulder and took a few steps away.

"She's not here. After I came and gave the two of you blood, she said she had to figure something out and left." He hurriedly explained.

Damon was on his feet surprisingly fast for someone who had just been shot in the head.

"You let her leave after being shot?" He grew angry. "So that she could 'figure something out?' And you didn't think that was a tad suspicious?" He was directly in front of Stefan now.

"She promised it wasn't anything risky."

Damon scoffed and was about to argue, but Stefan stopped him. "And she told me to give you this." He held the letter in front of Damon.

He eyed it curiously. "'Cause that's not ominous at all." And he tore the envelope out of Stefan's hand.

"I swear to God, Stef, if this is a 'goodbye' or 'just-in-case' letter, I will let the recently vamped, vampire hunter kill you himself." Damon threatened before stepping over Connor's body and walking out of the room.

Once he was in the confines of his own room, he sat on his bed, and ripped open the envelope. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reading the first line, scared of what it would say.

_Damon,_

_ I figured there was no way you would believe Stefan, so I'm writing this to let you know that I'm okay. I won't sugarcoat it though; it was a close call with Connor. Luckily, Tyler stepped in just in time. But something about him didn't seem right. And then he said something that reminded me of someone else. I have a theory about what's been going on with him, but Bonnie is the only one who can confirm it. So, I'm going to find her and hopefully figure out the truth._

_ I'm sorry I couldn't be there when you woke up. Seeing Connor hurt you the way he did was the hardest thing for me to watch, and it just confirmed how important you are to me. I never want to lose you. I can't wait for you to just hold me in your arms. That's why I will be back as soon as I can. Try not to worry too much. I'm taking a break from my role as damsel in distress. In the meantime, focus on what to do with Connor...I trust your judgment. _

_ I love you._

_ Elena_

_P.S. –Don't be too hard on Stefan for letting me leave, you know how convincing I can be._

Damon released the breath he had been holding. At least it wasn't a goodbye letter—Stefan could live another day. But he was still worried, he couldn't help himself. Besides, he was never one to do what people said. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He speed-dialed her number and hoped she would answer.

Elena was walking through the woods towards the witches' house with Bonnie when she felt her phone vibrate. She took it out of her pocket and glanced at the name. Of course he would be calling. She had expected him to the moment after he read her letter. Bonnie glanced at her.

"You can answer that if you want. We have a few minutes."

"Thanks." Elena smiled and stopped walking.

She answered. "Damon, hey." Elena happily greeted.

Damon closed his eyes at the sound of her voice. "Elena." He breathed. "Where are you?"

"First tell me how you're doing."

"I'm fine, besides the fact that I don't know where you are. Apparently worrying about you is the perfect cure for being shot in the head."

She cringed at the memory. "I'm fine, Damon. I promise. I'm with Bonnie now."

"And where is that exactly?"

"Stop worrying." Elena didn't want to give away their location, worried he would come and Klaus would kill him. But she didn't want to lie to him either.

Damon exasperatedly sighed. "You know that's just as impossible for me as it is for you, Elena. We're a team now…which means we need to be honest with each other."

It was Elena's turn to sigh. He was completely right. She couldn't hide things from him.

"Of course. Turns out my theory was right. Bonnie found a way to put Klaus in Tyler's body and preserved Klaus' body from Alaric's attack." Elena explained.

Damon's head was spinning. "Klaus is alive?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And he wants his body back."

Damon didn't like where this was headed. "Elena, don't even think about getting involved in this."

"I love you for looking out for me, but it's Bonnie, Damon." She softly said.

"I don't care who it is, Elena. We're talking about Klaus here. The person who was relying on you to be alive. He's gonna be pissed you're a vampire now."

"It'll be fine, Damon." Elena tried to reassure, knowing time was running out.

He was growing desperate, he needed to get to her. "Where are you, Elena?"

Elena decided she might as well tell him, and was about to answer, when Klaus appeared out of the shadows.

"I suggest you hang up the phone, or I will turn your romance into a tragedy before you can even bat one of those pretty eyelashes." He growled.

Elena did as he requested.

The other end was filled with silence. "Elena? Can you hear me? Elena? Elena!" Damon threw the phone across the room and ran his hands through his hair. He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. So much for no more damsel in distress.

Then his thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar from downstairs.

"What have you people done to me?"

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	11. Chapter 11

Only one more chapter left...enjoy!

* * *

"You're in transition. You need to feed or you'll die." Stefan had a distraught Connor pinned against a wall.

"I'd rather die!" Connor yelled in Stefan's face.

"Well no one really cares what you would rather do." Damon sneered as he came into the room.

Connor grew even more restless. "I won't feed. Just let me die, that's what you want, isn't it?"

Damon grabbed one of the blood bags Stefan had retrieved earlier. "Death would be too kind." He mimicked the words he had said to Katherine so long along. "And you've caught me on a bad day."

He approached with the opened blood bag. Veins appeared on Connor's face, and fangs painfully grew out of his gums. He screamed in agony. "No! Get that away from me! Please!"

Damon took Stefan's place and grabbed Connor by the throat.

"I don't think you're in any position to be making requests. In case you forgot, you just tried to kill me and Elena a few hours ago. I think this might teach you not to make judgments." He hissed.

"So you'll turn me. Then what? I'll still kill every single one of you." Connor swore.

Damon laughed. "That'll be a nice trick, considering you'll be dead soon. Well, actually dead. You see I'm killing two birds with one stone because I don't have time to deal with you anymore. Believe it or not, there are bigger villains out there that unfortunately won't stay dead." And with that he shoved the blood into Connor's mouth.

Stefan eyed Damon. "What other villains, Damon?"

While Connor drained the bag, Damon loosened his grip on him. "Apparently Klaus has nine lives and enjoys coming back to screw ours."

Stefan's eyes widened. "How is that even possible? I thought Alaric staked him."

"Long story short, our resident witch tried to save us, pulled a switcheroo with Tyler and Klaus, and somehow preserved Klaus' body. Which I must say, I'm a tad impressed with, given her track record."

Before Stefan could respond, a growl escaped Connor as he shoved Damon off of him, hunger in his eyes.

"More." Was all he managed to spit out.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Oh, the irony. See how quickly blood can change your mind? Sadly for you, we're cutting you off." He then grabbed Connor, dragged him downstairs, and threw him into the basement cellar.

Connor threw himself at the bars. "Let me out! You can't do this. The council will find out!"

"That's the plan." Damon whispered before making his way back upstairs.

Stefan was waiting for him in the living room.

"So Klaus has been in Tyler all this time?" He frantically questioned.

Damon nodded. "That's what Elena figured out when he killed Connor. But now he wants his body back, which I can only assume involves more unreliable magic from Bonnie."

"Well where are they now?"

Damon poured himself a drink and began pacing.

"That's what I just tried to find out from Elena, but the line went dead before she could answer."

Stefan ran a hand through his hair. "So you think this is all going down somewhere tonight?"

"Unfortunately, even though Elena promised not to do anything risky."

"I'm sorry, Damon." Stefan quietly said.

"Don't. There's no time for that. We need to figure out where the hell they are and fast."

"They're at the old witches' house." A new voice entered the room. "At least I think they are."

Damon and Stefan turned around to find a very shaken up Caroline.

Stefan approached her. "Are you okay, Caroline?"

"Not really. I just found out my boyfriend is being inhabited by my borderline stalker who is also the world's biggest sociopath."

"How?" Damon questioned.

"He was outside the hotel we've been staying in. I overheard him on the phone, with Bonnie I assume. He was making threats about finding a way to get his body back and having her meet him at the witches' house." She took a breath. "When he hung up, I confronted him. He just said he was sorry and knocked me out." She sadly finished.

Damon put down his drink and started putting on his leather jacket.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked.

"Where do you think, Stef? Elena is in that house with an unstable witch and a psychopath who wants her dead. I'm going to get her."

"I'm coming with you." Stefan stated.

"No, you're staying here with Connor. You need to call Sheriff Forbes, tell her the vampire hunter tried to attack us, but turned out to be a vampire himself, and then let her and her deputies handle him. Preferably publically, so we can put some breathing space between us and the council."

Stefan reluctantly agreed.

"Well then I'm coming with you." Caroline firmly said.

Damon hesitated. "It's gonna be dangerous, Blondie."

"I need to finish this."

He nodded and they were on their way.

* * *

"Why is she here?" Klaus' voice growled from Tyler's mouth.

"She's going to help me get the power I need to bring your body back." Bonnie hurriedly explained.

"And why would you be so willing to help me?" He stood directly in front of Elena.

She didn't back down. "I'm doing this for Tyler and Caroline. I could care less what happens to you."

He devilishly grinned. "I see becoming a vampire has just increased that annoying Petrova fire in you." He leaned in. "But it has given you the same fate as Katarina."

"I wouldn't be threatening the one person you need to get your body back." Elena replied.

He narrowed his eyes. "Some other time then. Let's get going ladies." And he grabbed them both by the arm.

Once they reached the basement of the house, Bonnie began lighting candles around the room. She also drew three interlocking circles on the ground.

"Elena and I will stand in one, while you stand in the other. Once I finish the spell, your body will be conjured in the third circle. Then I'll just have to switch the two circles and you and Tyler should be back where you belong." Bonnie explained.

"Sounds simple enough." Klaus commented. "Oh, and just warning you. Once I'm back in my own skin, I wouldn't try doing anything stupid. Let's not forget that if you kill me, you'll be killing everyone you love."

"Then leave town." Elena demanded. "Or I won't go through with this."

Klaus let out an evil laugh. "You'll do it anyways, for your friends. And if not for them, then for Damon. You know I won't hesitate to rip his heart out."

Elena grimaced at the thought. "Let's just get this over with." Bonnie grabbed hold of Elena's hand and smiled. "Ready?" Elena nodded and Bonnie began chanting.

The oddest sensation came over Elena as Bonnie continued the spell. Her whole body began to tingle and she became lightheaded. Bonnie's chanting grew louder, as the walls began to shake. Elena felt an intense power surge through her, and she could feel every ounce of Bonnie's energy and concentration in her own mind. Just as her knees began to weaken, flames engulfed the empty circle. When they extinguished, a body appeared in the center and Bonnie's chanting ceased.

"Excellent." Klaus exclaimed. "Now finish it!"

Elena glanced over at Bonnie and saw blood trickling out of her nose. She then felt a warm liquid above her lip, and was surprised to find her own nose bleeding as well.

"Are you okay, Bon?" Elena worriedly asked.

She nodded. "Just one more spell." And she determinedly squeezed Elena's hand and chanted even louder than before.

Elena felt the same sensation begin once more, but then something changed. The tingling turned into painful pins and needles, and Elena began to see spots.

"The witches are fighting me!" Bonnie yelled. "They don't want Klaus back in his body!"

The fire from the candles shot up and ignited the wooden walls. Elena immediately felt the heat surrounding them.

"You have to stop Bonnie!" Elena begged, but Bonnie held onto her tighter and continued chanting. Klaus gripped his head and began to scream. He then fell to his knees, unconscious. The fire continued to spread along the shaking walls. Blood poured from Bonnie's nose, as Elena's head began to throb from the overwhelming amount of power surging through the pair of them. Then, just as Bonnie stopped chanting, Klaus and Tyler gasped awake, and a surge of power erupted from the center of the three circles, sending them all flying backwards.

* * *

Damon and Caroline got out of his car in the woods. Just as they began making their way to the house, Caroline noticed an orange glow from over the trees.

"Damon, what does that look like to you?"

He thickly swallowed. "A fire." They exchanged a grave look before running as fast as they could towards the house. When they emerged from the woods, Damon's heart plummeted. The house was engulfed in flames. This couldn't be happening. Maybe Caroline had heard wrong and they weren't meeting here. But why would the house randomly catch on fire? His mind drifted back to over a century ago when he had watched a church burn to the ground, with the woman he had thought he loved trapped inside. How cruel history would be if it would repeat that same moment.

"What do we do?" Caroline hysterically asked.

Before he could respond, a figure came running out of the house. The darkness made it difficult to make out who it was until they were within a few feet. The glow of the fire illuminated Tyler's face, who held Bonnie in his arms. He collapsed at their feet, and Caroline instantly knelt down beside them.

She took hold of his face.

"Care?" His face held confusion, but it was replaced by relief. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Caroline let out a soft cry. "Ty!" She wrapped her arms around him. "It's really you."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Sorry to interrupt this reunion, but where the hell is Elena?"

Tyler looked up at Damon. "Elena?"

"Yea you know Elena Gilbert! She was in there with you and Bonnie and Klaus!" He was growing frustrated.

Tyler shook his head. "I didn't see her or Klaus. I didn't even know they were in there! I woke up not knowing where I was, surrounded by flames. I saw Bonnie laying a few feet away from me, so I grabbed her and ran. I'm sorry."

"Dammit!" Damon yelled. He stared at the house, the flames growing higher. She was in there. He could feel it. The true love of his life was trapped in the fire. History was a bitch.

He began heading for the house, but Caroline's hand stopped him.

"Damon, what are you doing?"

"I'm getting her out of there." He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's suicide."

Damon shoved her hand off of him and he ran to the house.

When Damon stepped inside, he could hardly see. The smoke was blinding and the heat from the flames was almost unbearable. He maneuvered his way to the basement, knowing that was Bonnie's favorite place to perform spells. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was horrified to see half of the ceiling had caved in. His eyes desperately searched for Elena through the smoke and flames.

"Elena!" He continuously yelled her name as he moved through the debris. But there was no response. He had never been so scared in all of his life. But then he saw a singed arm sticking out from under a collapsed beam. He rushed over and found Elena pinned beneath it. She was unconscious and her body was covered with ash and burns.

"Elena, baby, hey!" Damon lifted the beam off of her and gently brushed her cheek.

"I'm here, I'm gonna get you out of here, just stay with me." He took Elena in his arms and began the challenging escape from the building. The stairs had collapsed, so Damon was forced to jump from the basement up to the next floor. The ceiling had caved in even more, and he couldn't see the door through all the flames. He held Elena tightly against his chest, protecting her face from the heat. He scanned the room trying to find a way out. It seemed hopeless until he heard a voice.

"Damon! Damon, can you hear me?" Caroline shouted.

He followed the sound of her voice to the front of the house, but the doorway had collapsed in on itself. There was only one small opening left, and both of them couldn't fit through it.

"Caroline! I'm going to hand Elena to you."

He gently placed her through the opening and reluctantly let her go into Caroline's arms. Then he climbed through the space and out of the house. Caroline had carried Elena to the edge of the trees, and laid her on the cold ground next to the still unconscious Bonnie. Damon raced over to them and collapsed beside her. His clothes were scorched and he violently coughed from all of the smoke he had inhaled.

He leaned over Elena, stroking her burnt cheeks. Her ashen skin color made him feel uneasy. He also noticed the blood that had fallen from her nose. Something more had happened down there.

"Elena. Elena, can you hear me?" She didn't respond.

He rested his forehead onto hers.

"Elena, stay with me." He desperately whispered.


	12. Chapter 12

This is it! The last chapter...enjoy!

* * *

Time seemed to be frozen in place for Damon. Ever since he had pulled Elena from that burning house, everything passed in slow motion. Every second she was unconscious seemed like an eternity to him. They had all come back to the Boarding House. Caroline placed an unconscious Bonnie on the couch in the parlor and called her mom before leaving with Tyler. Damon grabbed a handful of blood bags and took Elena to his room. He fed her the blood, washed the ash from her with a warm wash cloth, and then changed her into a pair of his sweats.

She now lay unconscious in his bed. For the past three hours, Damon had sat by her side, rubbing circles into her hand with his thumb. He vaguely remembered Abby coming in to tell him of a spell Bonnie had used to draw power from Elena. Apparently it had tied the two girls together, and both would remain unconscious until one of them decided to wake up. That was just great. Somehow it always came back to an awry spell performed by a determined Bonnie, and a more than willing Elena to risk her own life to help the rest of the world. He shook his head. Although her unfailing devotion to her loved ones was one of the very things he fell in love with, it still drove him completely mad. How many more times in their future together would he have to helplessly sit by her side, worried that she would never come back to him?

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

"You need to open your eyes, Sleeping Beauty. You need to come back to me. Who else is going to call me out on all my crap? And shamelessly flirt with me? And cook bad chili with me? And have pillow talks with me? And be willing to risk their life for mine? And out drink me in shots? And run in the rain with me? And pull me back from the edge? And still find a way to see the good in me even after all of the terrible things I've done? Who will love me?" He paused, letting out a breath. "No one else, Elena. I need you."

Damon reached out and stroked her cheek.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but you need to come back so we can get to all of that snuggling you love so much." He smirked. "Just come back."

She didn't open her eyes. He was running out of ideas, but he knew he couldn't rely on Bonnie to wake up first. Then he thought of something-Sleeping Beauty. She was the one that woke up when her prince kissed her, right? The idea seemed completely absurd to him, but he was desperate, and he never knew what those crazy witches came up with in all those books of theirs. True love's kiss seemed way more reasonable than half of the stuff Bonnie came up with.

He figured it was worth a shot. He stood and leaned over Elena.

"I love you." And he placed the tenderest kiss on her lips.

Damon pulled back, but nothing about her had changed.

There was a knock on the door. "Damon?" Stefan said before entering.

Damon turned to face his brother. "Where have you been?"

"Connor's dead." Stefan quietly stated.

"That was faster than I expected. How'd that happen?"

"While taking him to the station, he tried to attack Sheriff Forbes, so her deputies put him down. Three prominent council members witnessed it." Stefan explained.

Damon raised his eyebrows. "One of our plans actually worked out? I'm shocked."

"Do you think it's enough to get the council off our backs?"

"I think it'll make them question what they know. Unfortunately, we don't know how much they actually know about us. Just another problem to add to our growing list." Damon frowned.

Stefan took a few steps closer. "I talked to Abby downstairs…she told me what happened."

"So she told you Klaus was nowhere to be found? And Elena risked her life, yet again?" Damon replied bitterly.

"She's going to be fine, Damon." Stefan tried to reassure.

Damon just nodded.

"I've decided to keep our agreement." Stefan unexpectedly said.

"What agreement?"

"The one where the brother she doesn't choose leaves town."

Damon didn't know what to say. So much had happened since that conversation, he had almost completely forgotten it.

"She loves you, Damon. And I know you love her more than anything. So, I'm gonna leave tomorrow." Stefan concluded and he turned to leave the room.

Damon was about to let him walk out, but then he glanced back at Elena, and heard her voice in his head. He closed his eyes, not believing what he was about to do, but knowing it was the right thing.

"Stefan, wait."

Stefan stopped in the doorway and turned back.

"You don't have to do that." Stefan's silence made him continue. "If you are leaving because it's what's best for you then I won't stop you. But don't leave because of me and some stupid deal we made. Elena needs you…she's gonna need all her friends to remind her of her humanity. And Vampire Barbie needs you for…whatever you two have. And the town needs you because Klaus might just decide to drop in…"

"And you might need me?" Stefan interrupted.

Damon scoffed. "Don't push your luck." He sarcastically answered, even though they both knew Stefan was right.

"I am sorry, Damon. For the choice I made that night. I know you said you won't ever forgive me, but we were almost back to being brothers again. I just hope we can get back to that someday."

"Me too, Stefan." Damon sincerely agreed.

Stefan offered a small smile. "I won't leave. But I will make myself scarce for when she does wake up." And he walked out of the room.

Damon stared at the empty doorway for a moment with a small smile on his face. Stefan was still his little brother.

"I'm really proud of you." A small voice made Damon inwardly jump. He whirled around to see Elena smiling at him. His small smile turned into a huge grin.

"Elena." He sat on the edge of the bed and kissed her.

"It's good to see you too." She whispered.

He pulled back. "So you woke up just to hear me and Stefan bond?" He incredulously asked.

She shook her head. "Actually I woke up to return the kiss."

Damon widened his eyes. No way had that actually worked… he would have to try that one more often.

"Is everyone okay?" Elena suddenly asked with concern etched on her face.

He nodded. "Tyler is fine and safely back with Blondie. And I'm assuming Bonnie is awake now that you are."

She questioned him with his eyes.

"That spell you agreed to? It linked the two of you together." She couldn't help but notice the resentment in his voice.

"You're angry…" Elena observed.

He looked down. "I'm not angry, Elena. I know that helping people is a part of who you are and I can live with that, but I can't live with you not including me in such risky decisions. I hate feeling helpless."

Elena squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry, Damon. I was going to tell you, but Klaus made me get off the phone..." Her eyes widened. "Klaus! Where is he?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. He wasn't in the witches' house when I went in to get you."

"So he's still out there?"

Damon kissed her hands. "Let's not talk about him right now, okay? Instead, I have to fulfill a certain request of yours." He climbed into the bed behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her.

"To hold me in your arms." Elena grinned and relaxed against his chest.

"Can we not leave any more ominous notes for each other, though? I'd much rather just talk to you."

She nodded. "I think I can manage that. I am sorry, Damon."

He tightened his grip. "As long as we're on the same page now, and you're okay, it doesn't matter."

She relished the feeling of him holding her.

"Thank you for saving me, again." Elena quietly said.

He whispered in her ear. "I'll always choose you."

* * *

When Elena woke up the next morning, the bed was empty. She sat up to see if Damon was somewhere else in the room, but he was nowhere in sight. She frowned. She had expected to just lie in each other's arms all day, considering the past few trying days they had. Where could he have gone? She then heard a clinking noise from downstairs. Filled with curiosity, Elena hopped out of bed, combed her hair, and ventured out of Damon's bedroom.

She reached the living room when someone grabbed her waist from behind.

"Good morning, beautiful." Damon's low voice greeted her.

She leaned into his touch and bare chest. "Good morning." She replied sweetly.

"I have a surprise for you." He smiled and took her by the hand.

"A surprise? Look, Damon, don't think you're gonna suck up just so you can get out of morning snuggling…" She stopped in her tracks when they reached the dining room.

The table was set for the pair of them, each plate filled with eggs and French toast, and candles were lit among red rose pedals covering the table.

"Damon. This is amazing." Was all she managed to say.

He simply smiled and pulled her chair out for her.

"I figured we could both use some food." He sat down. "And a first date." He sincerely added.

"So a southern gentleman and a romantic? You continue to impress me." Elena grinned.

"I aim to please." He replied with that flirty, little eye-thing Elena loved so much.

She then noticed the three crystal glasses sitting in front of her: orange juice, coffee, and blood.

"And you thought of everything." She laughed.

"You deserve the best." He winked and they dug into their food.

Once they were finished, Elena leaned back in her seat, completely full.

"That was better than Thanksgiving. Thank you." She took Damon's hand in hers.

He squeezed it in return. "Of course."

"I want it to always be like this." Elena thoughtfully said.

Damon stared at her intently. "It can always be like this."

She sighed. "Klaus is out there, Damon. And before we performed the spell, he told me that becoming a vampire had given me the same fate as Katherine…which I can only assume means an eternity of misery."

He reached over and held her chin. "It's not the same fate as Katherine's because you have something she never did."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Me." He offered a small smile.

"That's what worries me. He won't hesitate to kill you, Damon. And I don't think I can live an eternity without you in it." She sadly said.

"Hey." He knelt down in front of her. "We will deal with Klaus and we will survive like we always have. Okay? We have each other, which makes us stronger." He tried to reassure her.

She softly smiled and nodded.

"I have something for you." He stood, sped out of the room, and returned with a velvet box.

Elena looked at it. "Damon, what is this?"

"Just open it."

She did as he asked, and gasped at the bracelet inside. It was made up of white-gold woven vines encrusted with diamonds and sapphires.

"It was my mother's." Damon whispered. "She would've loved you."

Tears filled in the corners of Elena's eyes. He rarely talked about his mother, but she knew how much he loved her.

"It's gorgeous, Damon. But I could never take this from you."

"Elena, I want you to have it. My mother would've wanted the woman I love to wear it, not let it collect dust somewhere." He gently pulled the bracelet out of the box. "I wanted to find a way to make us…official. I know that sounds like something an angsty teenage boy would say, but so much has happened since you said you loved me, and we never really had time to talk about where exactly we stood. I just wanted you to have something that would mean I was yours and you were mine." He paused. "But if you changed your mind, I'd be crushed, but I would understand."

Elena stared at him for the longest time, completely amazed by the man in front of her. He was always so strong and intrepid on the outside, but inside was just a vulnerable human boy who wanted to be loved as much as he loved her. And God, did she love him.

She cupped his face with her hands.

"You better put the bracelet on me and start believing that I am completely yours in every way imaginable." She fiercely said with nothing but love in her eyes.

A genuine smile filled his face as he placed the bracelet around her wrist.

"Perfect fit." He whispered before crashing his lips onto hers.

All the passion and love they felt for one another exploded. He lifted her out of her seat as she wrapped her legs around his hips, their kiss never breaking. He carried her to his bedroom and laid her on the bed. Her hands grasped his hair and the back of his neck, while his roamed over her whole body. He placed kisses down her jawline and neck while her hands explored every muscle in his chest and stomach. She brought his mouth back to hers and kissed him like she had never kissed anyone in her life. They made love and claimed each other as their own in every way. It was the most perfect moment Elena had ever experienced. And it felt like Damon was actually making real love for the first time.

Once they had finished, they laid in each other's embrace, their legs tangled within the sheets. Damon ran his hand through her hair, as Elena lazily drew circles on his bare chest.

"I've never felt more human than I do right now." Damon contently admitted. "I can never thank you enough for giving me that. I love you, Elena."

Elena let a tear fall onto his chest. "I love you more than anything."

It was then that she heard the soft patter on his bay windows; the sound that had always been able to make her feel human for as long as she could remember. Now she had something else to remind her of her humanity: Damon's love.

She looked up at Damon and sweetly smiled.

"It's raining."

THE END

* * *

I wanted to bring the story full circle. Now it's over! I can't believe how far this story has come from my original two-shot. Thank you to everyone who gave my story a chance and read it...you have all helped to make my first story a success! A **huge** thank you to everyone who took the time to review, I love you all!

Any last thoughts or overall opinions of the story? Review :)

Hopefully you'll see more work from me soon!


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